At Least I Can Whistle
by Fritz as Pritz
Summary: So they cut out your tongue and ditch you in the underground darkness of the Capitol. Big deal. At least we aren't sent into the Hunger Games...  The Hunger Games in the point of view of an Avox
1. Shit Hole

Shit Hole

I was always the biggest trouble maker growing up. Some say I had it coming to me, and you know, I should have expected it as well. I mean, in the Districts, getting in trouble doesn't get you a smack on the back of the head. It gets you a trip to the Capitol and not the good ones (though there is hardly ever a good trip to the Capitol for District citizens).

Still, I always thought I knew how far was too far. There was that line drawn into the sand that I always told myself I would never cross. Well, babe, I did cross it. And that is the reason I'm in this shit hole. What shit hole, one may ask? Well, Caesar, this shit hole is the sewers of the Capitol or as my fellow Avoxes call it, The Capitol's shit.

Lovely, right. Just what I needed in life, to be thrown into the underground abyss with the other rejects. That's what we are: rejects. We aren't dangerous. The dangerous ones are killed. We are the people who are "rebellious" against the Capitol and as such must be taught a lesson. You'd think that by a lesson they would just beat us for a few days then throw us back into our miserable lives. I know I probably wouldn't have tried spitting at a Peacekeeper if that happened. Now, all I want to do is beat up Peacekeepers. (Stupid District 2. They always have to be in the Capitol's favor.)

Most people think that the Avox life is more of a surreal type of living that you hear about in whispers and think it is only fairy tales. But you don't really know it until you get there. We are all a really big community, split into different sections of the Capitol. We have our ways of communication with each other (thanks to Master Rhys) and we work together to survive. Whether this means sneaking some extra food for us or bribing the doctor for medicine.

Call me insane, but being an Avox isn't all that bad. I mean, it's better than kicking it in the slums of District 12. That much, I am sure.

**A.N. Avast, you met your narrator. Tell me what you think of the he/she. I like unconventional point of views (as you might already know if you read any of my other stories), so tell me if I'm being ridiculous for trying this out.**

*Finz*


	2. Noobs

Noobs

Nights are the best time in the Capitol. Peacekeepers are lazy, all of the Capitols are either drunk beyond their minds or sleeping soundly with their oversized faces and neon colored lips. The shit hole is nice, but when you stay there for long periods of time, it's easy to realize how much you love fresh air.

It's a rarity for District Avoxes to ever see the light, except for Master Rhys's charges. Master Rhys is in charge of the Training building and Mentors Hideaway during the Annual Hunger Games and then the underground train tracks on the off seasons. Our job is nothing too difficult, compared to the ones who have to clean the gutters or made sure the pods are working properly. Master Sayda is in charge of the pods and I know that majority of her Avoxes only last a few weeks at most.

(We don't generally meet the other Masters or Avoxes unless there is something wrong, but from what Master Rhys has told me, most of them refuse to teach the Avoxes the language in fear of being found out. That's what I like about Master Rhys. He isn't afraid of anything.)

Working in the Transfer is the hardest job only because the Peacekeepers keep a closer eye on you. If you do one thing wrong, then you are screwed. I started out with Master Farris in the Transfer, but after getting beat up by twelve Peacekeepers, they sent me to Master Rhys. (I didn't like driving those stupid trucks anyway. They handcuffed me to the wheel as if I was going to try and run away.)

I slide out of the door to the mysterious land above and take a deep breath of fresh air, making sure to stay hidden within the darkness. Just because the Capitol doesn't pay attention doesn't mean I should risk it.

I haven't seen the sun in almost three years. I gave up my Training Building spot the last few years for the newbies that joined Master Rhys's group. They were weaklings and Capitol Avoxes. (They are the worst ones. It takes the longest time for them to actually break and in the meantime they moan and groan as if that is going to make the situation better.) Master Rhys hasn't gotten anyone new lately and I'll be seeing the sun for the first time in what feels like forever. I can't wait to feel the powerful warmth against me, instead of just the dimly lit moon.

There is a light tap on the door I just came through. My cue to get downstairs. I take one more deep breath then go back into the stuffy underground.

Swarley is at the door when I open it. (Swarley isn't his real name, as far as we're concerned. When he first came, Master Rhys gave him his little notepad and a pen and told him to write down his name. With a smug grin he wrote down S-W-A-R-L-E-Y. He tried to take back the pen and write his real name, but Master Rhys wouldn't have it. He has been Swarley ever since.)

"Master Rhys wants you," he signs to me. I nod, pressing my hand to my lips then extending it towards him (the universal sign for thank you amongst us).

We walk back to our base (a broken down train track) jumping from one source of light to the next. Only the main tunnels are completely lit at all times and those tunnels are filled with Peacekeepers. We hop over pods and traps of all sorts, already knowing where and when these things will explode. Swarley has been an Avox for five years, and I've been one for seven.

Swarley pauses under an oil lamp before we turn into the train tracks and turns toward me. I can make out most of him as the back of one hand moves across the palm of the other. It means "new" in our language. In other words a noob entered the tracks.

My forefinger and middle finger snap close on my thumb in the standard "no" motion. He nods sadly.

"I think Master Rhys is asking you to trade places with the noob during Games week." My heart falls. If I have to stay in the gutters for another Hunger Games year, I'm going to transfer to Master Sayda's group.

Someone taps me on my shoulder and I turn around to see Master Rhys. He stands only an inch taller than me, though I have never felt smaller. He waves goodbye to Swarley. The younger boy takes the hint and rushes into the tracks with the others.

"I have a favor to ask of you," he signs to me. I am already nodding before he finishes.

"You want me to trade with the noob. I understand." He shakes his head and throws an arm over my shoulder, leading me toward our home. He doesn't sign anything, just shakes his head. It makes me a little nervous, I'm not going to lie. I whistle in a staccato rhythm to try and get myself to focus. Master Rhys chuckles a little.

The abandoned train tracks aren't much. From the broken lamps and different lighters, we manage to create a decent amount of light. We generally don't have any blankets, but Eliseo stole a few from a Transfer truck once. We keep them hidden from Peacekeepers most of the time.

Master Rhys's bed is a small bundle of hay used for the livestock we get from District 10. He settles on top of it and motions for me to sit beside him.

"I want you to train the newest recruit." My eyebrows furrow together. Only Masters train noobs. That's why they are the Masters. Besides, noods are the worst. They don't know the language, so you have to spell everything out on their palm. Once they have the alphabet down, then you have to constantly spell things out. They get it eventually, but then you have to go very slow so that they can catch everything you are saying. It takes two to three years to become fluent, sometimes even more.

"Why me?" I ask. Master Rhys smiles at me.

"I want you to take my place some day, and you should get used to training the newer Avoxes." I am touched by the offer, but appalled by the idea of training the noobs. Who wants to spend the rest of their life dealing with noobs? At my wavering expression, he continues.

"She already knows how the tunnels work and the different Masters and groups. I've been working with her since early this morning and she has the first half of the alphabet memorized." Kind of hard to believe that she already knows the alphabet. It takes most Avoxes a couple of days to fully memorize it.

"Do you want me to stay behind during the Hunger Games to teach her?" I ask a little reluctantly. He smiles at me.

"No, just have her shadow you and teach her as you go along. She is a quick learner." Well, at least I can stay with the Training Building.

"Is she a District or Capitol?"

"Ask her yourself." He stands then and moves to where the noob sits with a few other Avoxes. They seem to be trying to help her with the rest of the alphabet. Master Rhys gently lifts her up from her spot and leads her toward me.

My god, she has the brightest blue eyes I have ever seen. They contrast against her pale skin and deep brown hair making the vivid color pop. She is small and kind of scrawny, though I note that her hands aren't the dainty ones of a Capitol. I look her up and down, but my eyes can't stop staring at hers, even when Master Rhys sets her in front of me.

"Vulcan, this is Isolde." He introduces myself to her by spelling my name into her palm. She waves at me and smiles.

I take her hand into mine (my god they are so warm), and spell out "district". It takes me a couple of tries to get her to understand because I go a little too fast for her, but eventually she gives me nine fingers. I nod and grin a little before turning back to Master Rhys.

"I'll teach her," I confirm.

"I thought you would," Master Rhys signs with a smirk.

**I'm skipping the reapings and most of the preliminaries, though I think I'll do the training and maybe the interviews. Sorry, but that stuff is really boring for me to write, and I almost left my last story because of it. Besides, most tributes have a similar reaction to the reapings.**

*Finz*


	3. Fluffy Little Tributes

**In cartoons, the characters who do not talk are always the best. Pascal from **Tangled. **Cri-kee from **Mulan**. Abu from **Aladdin.** Just saying.**

Fluffy Little Tributes

Isolde may be hot, but it doesn't stop me from being annoyed by her constant presence. Master Rhys was right about her being a quick learner and by the time it is time for us to go above ground for the Hunger Games, she knows how to finger-spell. She isn't very fast and it takes a while for her to group together the proper letters, but she can understand at least.

Swarley and I nickname her Blue because of her eyes. We all have nicknames (save for Swarley, but his name technically is a nickname). Mine is fire because of my bright red hair. Eliseo's is Eli. Sebastian is orange (his nails were orange when he came here). Simone is grape (because of the very detailed tattoo in a shape of a grape vine that starts at her cheek and trails down to her chest). Beatrice was given the name lovely because of how she cried for hours her first few days of being an Avox (this was because she recently gave birth to a young baby girl, not because she's a wimp).

Half of the Avoxes from Master Rhys's group goes to the Transfer, the dirt on our bodies seeming much more apparent now that we were going to the superficial Capitol. No doubt they would command us to bathe before we meet the new tributes.

I know we're in the right area when I see at least fifty Peacekeepers gathered in a large semicircle. Some have guns in their hands, others have whips, and most have nothing. They herd us together like cattle and begin to split us into different groups. It doesn't matter much which number they give you because there are too many of us to remember everyone's faces and we can't give them our name. The pretty girls are remembered though, so Swarley and I agree to go wherever Isolde is assigned.

A platinum blond Peacekeeper grabs onto Beatrice and pulls her out of the line. "Were you disobeying orders, missy?" Beatrice keeps her head hung and shakes it solemnly. "I think you were." He grips the whip in his hands and a few of the other Peacekeepers chuckle.

Master Rhys told me that it is the masters' duty to protect the Avoxes under their control. They have to take the punishments given to the ones who couldn't take it, even if it means you're own death. Master Rhys showed me the numerous scars that criss-crossed every inch of skin on his back. There were even a few on his chest. After a while, he said that they don't hurt as much.

We all flinch when the whip strikes Beatrice. The tip snaps against her back and she gives a harsh cry. The blond bastard laughs. Isolde moves a little to try and help her, but pauses, and lets her hand go to her mouth where she remembers exactly what they did to her.

He whips her again and just before he moves to hit her a third time, I move toward her. The movement is noted by all of the Peacekeepers and I already know what's going to happen. The blond bastard kicks Beatrice back with the others then grabs me by my scruffy red hair and pulls me where Beatrice was a few seconds ago. I catch Isolde's wide blue eyes before his fist collides with my stomach and fall onto the pavement.

"You were the one who killed Crispus, huh." I stay on the floor trying to catch my breath before I take another hit. It doesn't work because the blond bastard kicks my ribs before I have a chance to. I stumble onto my side, clenching my fists as he kicks me again. "I asked you a question, Avox!" I want so badly to spit in this guy's face.

"I know it was you. That fucking red hair is still in Verius's fingernails." (That's nasty. Doesn't he ever wash his hands. I mean I wasn't the cleanest kid ever, but at least I cleaned my nails.)

And just like the first week I was an Avox, they start beating up on me. The thanks I get for killing one of their own, no doubt. I wish I could tell them how much I loved it. Crispus was a dick and he deserved what he got. The whip stings horribly and I can feel the metal tip dig deep into my skin and pry away the deep layer. I force myself to stay silent. I hum to myself and clench my fists. Eventually the pain subsides, though the whipping does not.

"Cut it out! He needs to be able to work! It's too late to grab another." I'm hauled to my feet and I keep myself standing tall, despite the desire to fall back to the floor.

I am swallowed by the other Avoxes and lean against Swarley. Isolde looks at me with her bright blue eyes widened beyond normality. Beatrice comes from behind me and gently places a hand on my shoulder. She smiles at me and I nod.

They lead us into the large room and force us to strip so we could shower. Most of us are used to this, but I have the others look away from Isolde as she takes off her clothes. The cold water stings my wounds and I visibly wince at the contact. Why did I have to be so damn chivalrous?

We are handed our uniforms as we file out of the showers. A nurse is waiting by the door as well and one of the Peacekeepers point me out. The nurse tends to the wounds by wrapping a gauze around them, but he does little else. They probably just don't want blood on the uniform.

I'm dressed and ready when I catch up to the others who begin to walk up the stairs that lead to the Training Building. I find Isolde in line and go to her side. Her eyes are still wide, though not as much as before. I feel her hand graze mine and I pause for a millisecond, my body tense. I can still feel the lingering touch of her caress when I continue forward.

Isolde was given District Four, so Swarley and I follow her to the fourth floor. As we climb up the steps to the proper floor, the other Avoxes lightly pat me on the back or ask if I was okay. (By the way, talking while climbing up stairs is not an easy thing. At least for Avoxes it isn't.) Beatrice wraps her arms around my neck and holds me in a tight embrace.

"You should not have done that," she signs as subtly as possible to me.

"You didn't do anything. Besides, it did not hurt that bad." She knows I'm bluffing because she got the first two hits.

Swarley doesn't say anything until we get to our floor and begin to clean. They give me simple tasks to do so that I'm not in too much pain. Isolde, of course, is given the same work load, and although Swarley had most of my normal chores, he stuck beside us. I was polishing silverware with Isolde when he started to talk to me.

"That was good what you did for Lovely," he says to me. I hear a sound beside me and I glance at Isolde. Her face scrunches up, but smooths out when she senses my eyes on hers.

"I got to be honest, I might not have done it if it wasn't for what Master Rhys told me."

"Don't matter what your reasons are. The point is, you did it. You had the balls to try and stand up against a Peacekeeper."

"Everyone knows my history with that." Except Isolde, I realize. I glance at Blue and consider trying to fingerspell the story. But, it would be too long for her, and I would do it too quickly.

I ignore Swarley's attempts to get me to continue a conversation and I'm grateful when he has to leave to clean the windows.

Isolde and I finish the silverware quickly and we begin setting the table. I hum to myself, whistling some tunes whenever the opportunity presents itself. She tells me that I have a "lovsly" voice. I correct her spelling and she purses her lips.

"I know how to spell lovely." She puts emphasis on the "e" as she spells out the sentence. I chuckle a little, and say no more.

I think about the cameras that are in the rooms. Surely they would have seen what is happening, but that is the joy of our language; they don't know what we're talking about. And it looks like we are just speaking to each other through large hand gestures (which we kind of are). There's no rule against communicating with each other anyway, we are just beat if we are. Master Rhys tells us that the language is thousands of years old and Panem probably wouldn't know it anymore than a bear knows English. This begged the question: where in the hell did he learn it? I asked him this once and he just replied with the slightest of smiles, "A friend."

Tired of the dullness of my chores, I trade with Swarley so that I can clean the windows. Isolde tries to follow me, but I shake my head no. Swarley can take care of her for the time being, and I don't want her there if I just so happen to fall to the floor in complete agony. I think that blond bastard broke one of my ribs, and I know from experience that it is one of the worst injuries to heal from naturally.

The Capitol is alight as I clean the windows. I keep an eye for the chariots as they begin to line up. I think that the stylists for the Games are so stupid, especially the District 12 ones because they always put their tributes in these ugly miners' outfits. The earlier districts are always provocative and part of me wonders why they just don't send them onto the chariots naked (since they practically are anyway).

The chariots gather around the Training Building and I take note of the different tributes. I had the unfortunate disadvantage for not seeing the reapings this year (oh darn) so I didn't know who any of these people are. It's not that bad not knowing who's going to die anyway.

When I turned twelve, I remember being scared shitless about the reapings. The days before, I caused more trouble than I ever had in my entire life. People screamed and yelled and I had no idea what to do. There was a moment when I even considered running away. That year, my neighbor's kid was reaped. I was happy, until I saw him die in the bloodbath. My neighbor didn't stop crying for nearly a week. In his memory, I created a song and sang it for her. I got a mockingjay to sing it too and I whistled the tune for hours so that it could keep singing it. Then my neighbor hit me with a book and told me, "Leave me the hell alone, you little prick! You don't even understand." (Yeah, she was a bitch.)

I manage to catch a couple of interesting looking tributes. The District Eight girl looks like she had just seen death. I like the expression of the Six girl (who sports a very unattractive doctor's coat and has one of those stethoscopes around her neck) as she glares at the Capitol citizens. The Nine boy has an empty gaze as he glances at his competition. If I could read minds, I would want to stay away from his.

A light tap on my shoulder made me realize where I was and I turn toward the person. It's Isolde, with her face nervous. She must sense what is going to happen.

We finish cleaning the windows and manage to go back to the dining room by the time the mentors and tributes come in. We aren't supposed to acknowledge them, but I stop every so often and give subtle glances toward the tributes.

The girl is young and tries to hide behind the mentor, who I know is named Blink. The little girl glances at everything, and for a moment, she meets my eyes. (They're blue like Isolde's, but I know that they are nothing like hers.) I make my eyes fly away before she tries to do something.

The guy looks young with the freckles still scattered in his face, but he is super tall. Not as tall as me, but still pretty big. His arms cross over her chest as the mentors show them where to go.

"She's hot," Swarley signs to me. I glare at him for trying to sign at this critical hour, but he smirks and pretends to work.

Their escort comes in with her large purple wig that stands two feet tall. I let the corner of my lip twitch at the image of her falling through a window because she couldn't handle the weight of her own hair. Behind her are mentors Blink and Shell. I remember Shell's Games because that was the year just before I became an Avox. She killed the Careers as if she was walking her dog. She scares me. Blink, I remember from prior years, is a quiet soul and hardly says anything. Little is known about his Games, and little else is known about him.

"I think that the District 2 boy will win," their escort says. "He is such a barbaric killer!" She says the last part almost with glee. If I thought the Peacekeepers were dumbasses then this lady must be a mindless twit.

"Yes, Ares is a force to be reckoned with, but Dmitri will get the pity votes."

"The Eleven boy! I don't see why he would get 'pity votes'." They sit down and we spring into action, getting ready to grab trays and other such things for dinner. Still, I keep my ears open as I listen to them.

"He was the one with the daughter remember."

"Oh yes! Now I remember him. I had mistaken him for the nine boy." I saw those two in the Chariots. They look nothing alike.

The two tributes come in and take their seats. Beatrice carefully walks around them, offering wine and water. Swarley is quick to give them their first appetizer (which is some kind of puff thing that I have never seen before). My friend has a knack for clumsiness and it wouldn't be the first time he gets whipped for dropping something on someone. He, thankfully, passes everything out without a mess.

"Why were you talking to the Seven girl, Avery?" Shell asks the girl. The shy little tribute looks up at her mentor and swallows a little.

"She just started talking to me. Her name is Peri." She diverts her eyes and stares at what's on her plate.

"I know her name," Shell says with her nose in the air. "She's not a Career."

"I know." Avery bites her bottom lip, but then looks at the others with strong eyes. "I don't want to be with the Careers this year." All eyes fly to her, even some of the Avoxes, though we are better at hiding it then the others are. I strategically walk around then to see if they want bread rolls. As I do so, they are shaken back to reality.

"What do you mean you're not going to be a Career?" her partner asks. His tone isn't malicious or anything, but there is an edge there, I think. I'm kind of lacking in the department of detecting the tone of someone's voice.

"Now, Leeum," Shell continues as she takes bread, "she does have a choice, I suppose. It's a horrible choice, but if she wants to be a little wimp then she could crawl away with the other dead tributes." Avery's face scrunches up a little, but relaxes before she responds to her mentor.

"That's not what I meant. I just don't want to be with them. They look like jerks." The boy beside her coughs a little. "Well not you, Leeum. The other ones."

"Well, you don't have to be a Career to mercilessly kill." Wow. She must be a big charmer at parties.

Isolde swallows a little as she moves in to offer their next dish (chicken, I think, though it's hard to tell). Her hands shake considerably, though I don't know why. It's not like she's serving the soup. Her steps are too slow and shaky, so I go to her side and try to take the platter from her. She narrows her eyes at me and pulls the platter from my hands. Her remaining steps are strong and confident. Who knew that a little unwanted help would boost her confidence.

* * *

The night takes over and it is time for us to leave. After cleaning up the dining room, most of the Avoxes leave. I have Isolde go with Swarley back to the train tracks (even though he practically begged me to go back with them) so that she could get some well needed rest. Tomorrow would be a lot harder, especially when we have to serve the actual training rooms.

I go to the living room to vacuum when I notice that the television is still on. A few of the stupid Capitol news casts are on, nothing of my interest. I begin to vacuum (I make sure not to move my back too much) when they begin to replay the Chariots. I stop for a moment and stare at the tributes, trying my hardest to remember every one.

Allyn Bonnet and Lycoris Viendra of District One. Avery and Leeum from Four. Titania from Three. Nell Dogwood from six. I only go back to my work once I see the District Twelve chariot appear. I replay their faces in my head, trying to match the name with their features.

The vacuum comes to a halt as I finish. I go to turn off the television as Adeline Criss from District seven (or was it eight?) is flashed on the screen. I wonder how my neighbor's son managed to go through all the poking and questioning of the Capitol. I wonder if he was secretly happy to leave this twisted world. I wouldn't know, and I'm glad I don't.

I walk back to the Transfer, whistling the song I made for my neighbor. I know one thing, at least. These tributes are screwed.

*Finz*


	4. Even We Can Make Bets

Even We Can Make Bets

I may have kept my cool when the blond bastard was hitting me, but as Master Rhys tries to help my wounds, nothing spots me from crying out. I'm glad no one looks at me as if I'm a babbling little kid, because I definitely feel like one. We've all been whipped at one point or another and the pain of it never seems to leave.

"Your rib is not broken, just bruised," Master Rhys tells me. I hastily wipe away whatever tears that might have left my eyes. No need to show the others that too. He places a gentle hand on my shoulder and I look up at him.

Master Rhys has always been something of a god amongst us. He was that all knowing being of the Avoxes, the hope that we could survive and be as successful as he was. But whenever I look in his eyes, whenever anyone looks in his eyes, it's hard to see him as anymore than what he is; and that is a dirty old Avox.

"That was very brave what you did," he tells me. I nod and smile a little bit.

"I don't get why everyone thinks I was being so noble. I mean, if I was some hero, then I would have helped her before she was whipped in the first place." Master Rhys sighs a little and wraps an arm around my shoulder.

"No one is perfect," he fingerspells so that he can keep his arm around me.

"You are." The curve of his lips scares me a little, though not because it is terrifying. There is something very human about the smile, something that would only be on someone with a bag full of regret.

"No, not nearly as perfect as people think I am."

"Master Rhys," I begin to sign, but he stops me by snapping his fingers in the "no" formation.

"We are equals now. I am no more your Master than I am your father." I blink a few times, not really understanding what he's saying.

"But Master-" His arm falls from my shoulder and he fully faces me.

"No Master. Just Rhys will do." Just Rhys? But he isn't Rhys. He's Master Rhys, the one who isn't afraid of anything, who saved me from the Peacekeepers' abuse, who reminds us that we aren't the Capitol's slaves. How could I ever be his equal? I can't.

"Is this only because of what I did for Lovely?" He shakes his head.

"You have done plenty of things over the years to have earned my trust." I try to think about what he could possibly be talking about, but I can't think of anything.

"I don't think so," I tell him shaking my head.

"I may not be perfect, but I know a good person when I see one." Something shadows over her face and I wonder if he has ever misjudged someone.

Isolde comes behind me and taps me on my shoulder. She bites the inside of her cheek as she tentatively makes the letter R with both hands and moves them from one side to the other; this is the sign for "ready". I am impressed by her initiative to learn it, though I have a feeling it's to prove that she could do it than anything else.

Master Rhys (I don't care what he says; he is still Master to me) smiles at her and nods his approval. "She may be better than you one day, Fire," he says before going toward his pile of hay and begins to read the only book we have.

Isolde looks at me with her intense blue eyes and it takes all of my man-power to not look away. She bites the inside of her cheek again and roughly signs out, "I have been practicing." I smile at her, even showing a little bit of teeth.

"I can see that," I fingerspell as slowly as I can. Her nose scrunches together and she glares at me. "What?" I ask her.

"You don't have to treat me like a baby." She tries to fingerspell this as quickly as she could, but she stumbles over many different letters in the process. What she actually spells out is: Yov fotn hake no nrean me live a baby. I get the gist of it though... I think.

"Stop trying to rush. You'll get it. Master Rhys and I have faith in you." She presses her lips together, but relaxes and looks at me with honest eyes. A ghost of a smile graces her lips, but I might be imagining it.

"Are you ready?" she asks me, this time slower so that she could get the letters right. I nod and gently lead her toward the Transfer.

Plenty of the others have already gone to the Training Building, but since Isolde and I are catering to the actual training room, we have a few extra minutes. The training room is one of the worst places to be. We hardly ever do anything, most of the time simply standing there to respond to a mess or get more supplies at a moment's notice (which is why there are only two of us). The only good part is that we get to see the tributes up close without them noticing. The first time I did this, I was with Swarley and he kept making stupid comments. At least this time I'm with Isolde, who can hardly speak.

The room is empty when we enter and I'm glad to have a few moments of quiet. I don't dare to whistle or hum, in case one of the trainers come in while I'm not looking. Isolde and I clean up the stations, making sure every place is filled with the proper supplies.

I try sweeping, but Isolde snatches the broom from me and begins to do it herself. I wanted to take it back, but as I leaned in to take it, my raw back began to burn. I settle in my place against the wall, content in watching Isolde's hips rock a little as she sweeps in her own bizarre rhythm.

She freezes a little when the first specialist walks in, not too sure what to do. When the trainer hardly gives her a glance, she tentatively begins her task again.

"Hey! Can you get me more rope?" the specialist says to no one in particular.

Isolde glances at me and then the broom. A second later she rushes to the door that leads to the supplies cabinet, abandoning the broom on the floor. I move to take her place, but just as I begin to sweep, Isolde is already back and takes it from me again. I glare at her, but she doesn't react.

By the time she finishes, the other specialists have already arrived, along with a few tributes. I recognize two of the four, one being the sickly looking girl Adeline and the other being the boy with the daughter, Dmitri. Both stand beside two young children. The little boy beside Adeline (his name was simple and started with a P, or maybe an F...) stares at Dmitri with wide eyes. The giant Eleven boy smiles at him.

District One comes in next. Allyn and Lycoris (I remember them because they had an L thing going on). District Ten follows suit (Dusty ox... Dustyn and Otillie!). Eventually the others come through, and I memorize most of them.

Last night, all of the Avoxes, even Master Rhys, gathered around to place our bets on the different tributes that we believed would win. District Two and One got the most, but Eleven got a few as well. We bet everything we had: extra shifts, found goods, different trading stuff, and sometimes money. Master Rhys never bets, since all he has is his book, but it's strange how everyone he picks ends up winning. He didn't make his choice yesterday, but it's bound to happen sometime.

I tense a little when I find Isolde's small hand creep into my own, giving it a harsh squeeze. When I get control of my body again, I follow her eyes to the Gamemaker's stands. I catch a few Avoxes there as well, though they don't do much more than bring food to them. Isolde's blue eyes, however, is glued on a Gamemaker, though it's hard to tell which one. She forces her eyes away and then notices that her hand is in mine. She jerks it away a little too roughly and tucks her arms behind her back. (I didn't realize touching me was that repulsive. Isolde really knows how to make a man feel better about themselves.)

When the tributes disperse, I watch them with as much focus I can give while also searching for a mess to clean. The station closest to me is the poisonous plants station. Adeline goes there immediately, her district partner following behind her.

The kid talks nonstop. I swear I didn't hear him take one breath, and he's talking nonsense too. "You know that the people in District Ten has to wake up years earlier. I mean hours earlier. And then in District Eight, I met this kid who woke up before the sun even rose so that he could get a good start at work and go home early, but then he would just go home and sleep so that he could wake up, which I think defeats the purpose of waking up early. I tried doing that, but then I fell asleep and then my cousin Weave hit me hours later to get up, and then..."

"Geez, Weft," Adeline mutters. (Weft! That's his name! What was I thinking with the "P"s and the "F"s.)

"Sorry, I just talk a lot whenever I'm nervous. What do you do when you're nervous? Weave used to play with his fingers a lot and then he..." He continues this for a while, until Dmitri and his own district partner join him at the station.

"Why are we here?" the little Eleven girl asks. "I know poisonous plants better than anyone else here."

"I don't think so, Freya." (So she was the one with the "F" name.) "I mean, it's not like you were ever in the fields much."

"Big deal," she says glancing through the book with a bored expression on her face. "I still know plenty."

"Really?" He turns to a random picture and shows it to her. "What's this then?"

The girl stares at the picture for a long time and purses her lips. "I don't know what it's called, but I know that it's bad." Dmitri chuckles and shakes his head.

"That isn't poisonous. That is the counterpart to a nightlock." Freya glares at him then kicks the book and stomps away. Dmitri shakes his head and turns his attention back to the book.

"She'll come back," he mutters to himself. He looks up and notices Adeline and Weft (who was silenced by Freya's conversation). "Hey, I'm Dmitri, and you are?"

"I'm Weft and this is Adeline. You're the kid with the kid right. I remember my mentor talking about you and he said something about being irresponsible. I don't remember much, I don't really like him." Dmitri smiles at the boy and begins to talk to the two tributes easily, even getting Adeline to say a few words. He was right about Freya. She eventually comes back and talks to Weft as well.

I force my eyes elsewhere. (The perks of being an Avox is that you learn how to read lips well. Before Rhys began to teach the language, we used to have to read lips and it is a skill most of the Avoxes still possess.) I note the large group around the weapons area, no doubt Careers. Allyn, Lycoris (District 1), Ares, Alana (District 2), and Leeum talk to each other, easily getting into the grove of being allies. Ares appears to be the leader, much to Lycoris's dismay. Leeum glances at where Avery is with Peri every so often. Allyn has her eyes glued to the two bold boys in the weapons station.

I think their names are Dustyn and Ashton (or something that has to do with Ash). The Ash kid is from District Seven, that much is clear for his easiness with the ax as he swings it around. The boy spars with the specialist, beating him easily. Allyn taps her partner and points him out to the other Careers. Ares goes to him, though with his back to me, I don't know what he's saying. The other kid, Dustyn, was playing with the whip. He had great accuracy with it, even though you could tell he wasn't aiming for anything. Ares doesn't speak to him, but I can tell that they will be keeping an eye on him.

For a moment, I glance at Isolde. She bites the inside of her cheek, her eyes darting from every which way so she could react at a moment's notice if something happens. I breathe a chuckle and she turns to glare at me.

"Relax," I spell out in her palm so that we don't bring attention to ourselves (not like anyone's looking anyway). She takes many deep breaths, but I can still feel her tense body beside me.

Just then, the District Twelve and Nine girls (Angelica and Galena) tip over a huge bowl of camouflage paint on the floor. Angelica's eyes are wide as she stares at the mess. Galena simply walks away, not caring what happens there anymore.

Isolde jumps into action, rushing to the scene of the crime in long, quick strides. I follow her at a more even pace, and help her clean the paint with the rags at our waist.

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to do that. I'm so sorry!" I nod at her words so she knows that I understand. I just know that if we didn't acknowledge her, then she would continue to throw apologies at us. As Isolde goes to get more paint, I am left to finish up the cleaning.

"Really nice job," Peri from District Seven says to Angelica. The Twelve girl turns and glares at the other.

"It was an accident," she spits out. Peri holds her gaze equally, jutting her chin out.

"It didn't look like an accident, but whatever you say." I don't like where this is going.

"How would you know? But with those bug eyes, I wouldn't be too surprised." This hit a nerve in Peri and part of me wonders if I'm responsible for breaking up girl fights as well.

"You little bitch! You think that just because there's pink in your hair that you can be like a Capitol and treat the rest of us like shit!"

"It was an accident!" The specialists decide to break it up them, bringing the girls onto different sides of the gym. I hold the messy bowl in my hands which Isolde take from me in exchange for a new one. I place the paint where it belongs and rush to my place as I watch everyone go back to what they were doing.

The other tributes blend in with everything around them, trying to focus on what they were doing. Jersey from Nine is at the knives station beside well trained Allyn and Alana. The girls hardly glance at him as he fumbles with the different knives. His accuracy isn't that bad, but it's nothing compared to the girls'. The metal girl from Three (her name is Platinum or something like that) sits at the knot tying area, her legs crossed, and eyes focused on the rope in her hands.

The camouflage station is quickly filled by three tributes (Both Fives and the Six girl). The three ignore each other, all of their attention on the swirls of the patterns the specialist shows them through the book. It's strange how much focus they are putting into what their doing. When I was a kid, I could never focus on anything. My mind jumped from one thought to the other so naturally this concentration is a foreign concept for me. Even now, it's difficult for me to focus on one thing for too long.

The bell that tells them that the first part of training is over doesn't come fast enough. I skipped breakfast this morning so Master Rhys could take care of my wounds. I was used to skipping meals, but never breakfast. I always had something to eat in the morning, whether it be small or large. I'm nervous that my stomach will make a noise large enough to bring attention to myself.

Isolde and I follow behind the tributes as they go to the cafeteria. A few other Avoxes are there already, food laid out on carts. The smell of it makes my mouth water. I have to wait though.

The tributes grab different things on the carts then move to the tables. The Careers sit together which consist of Allyn, Lycoris, Allana, Ares, Leeum, and surprisingly enough the Ash boy from seven. (I think the Careers have turned into a cult of names that start with the letters "A" and "L".) Everyone is very scattered with only two alliances seeming to be forming (the one with Peri and Avery and then the District 11 and 8 tributes).

It's strangely quiet with everyone spread out. I can vaguely hear Freya from Eleven argue with Dmitri and the mumbles and grumbles from the Careers.

The Avoxes and I keep the food on the carts full, but I already know that they will not grab anymore. They are not as greedy as the Capitol. The remains of the food is supposed to be thrown away, but we always take some for ourselves. It's the only time in the year where we get a proper meal.

I slyly slip a small carrot off of the cart and push it into my mouth. I glance at Isolde, her eyes wide. I elbow her a little, and she forces herself to relax, though her eyes are still pretty big. I force myself not to chew on the vegetable. The sound wouldn't bring attention to myself, but I know the cameras would notice if my jaw suddenly begins to move. Instead, I absorb the flavor of the carrot in my mouth, softening it with my saliva. Very slowly, I begin to chew on the softened vegetable. If Swarley were here, he would purposely make a scene to get me nervous.

As the tributes go back to training, Isolde and I swap positions with Shiver and Birdie (Those are their nicknames. They have been here for a longer time than I have, so I don't know their names as well as the newer ones.) We clean up after the tributes, then leave to throw out the food.

By the dumpsters, we feast. There are no cameras here and we take advantage of the fact. We talk openly to each other, with food in our hands. We make sure to bag some and hide it so we can take it back for the others. There are over one hundred Avoxes in Master Rhys's care, all of them with starving stomachs.

"How long have you been here?" Isolde asks me.

"Seven years." She nods, her eyes going distant.

"Did you really kill a Peacekeeper like they said?" I nod.

"He was killing my friend's little brother." I force myself not to remember that day.

"So you stood up for him like what you did for Beatrice." I never thought of it that way. It's not the same though. I wouldn't have stood up for the boy if my friend didn't ask me to, like how Rhys asked me to watch out for the others. Wow. I guess it is the same.

"It wasn't anything so grand," I decide to tell her. That's a lie though. The entire district was there then, not because of me, but because of what they were doing to my friend's brother.

"We all know that Lovely could have died if she went under the same thing you did. Even I know that she isn't as strong as you." My eyebrows scrunch together.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing," she signs with a quick shake of her head. "I've heard a lot of talk about how cruel you are, but I have yet to see anything from you that was bad."

I did have a reputation, but mainly from the first few months as an Avox. Back then I was still pissed about what happened to me, and Master Rhys didn't have the influence that he has now. Yeah, I caused trouble, quite a lot of it, but that was before. The minute I began to really talk to Master Rhys, all of that changed. Still, the trouble marker rep stays with me, and I like it. It shows people to not try to fuck with me.

I didn't know Isolde knew this about me. No one would dare talk about it as a normal conversation which meant that she asked about me. A coy smile graces my lips as I wonder why she would be asking about me. Probably just to make sure her mentor is not a complete freak, which I am.

Still, there is something about Isolde questioning people about me that makes me smile. Maybe it's the genuine curiosity about it, or the fact that she thinks I'm a good person (which I'm not... well not really). No, I know what it is. I've never had a girl ask about me before. The thought makes me smile.

**A.N. So I intended this to be a full on tribute chapter, but then this happened, and well, if I fixed it or changed it, it would take another week to get out to you, and you guys don't deserve that. So, there it is. I'm think about doing another Training day, but I might just skip to the interviews so that we can start the actual Games. **

**I have decided how I will be judging who wins. This will be through skills alone. (I'm a die hard realist and I like to bring things that would likely happen in a certain situation or whatever.) I will determine who wins and dies through what their weaknesses are and strengths as well as the arena. In which case, don't be mad when (or if) I kill your character. It's nothing personal, they just couldn't survive. **

**Sorry it took me a while to finish this. I get sidetracked easily. **

*Finz*


	5. Yikes

Yikes

It was only a matter of time. I wonder, if we would have stayed with Isolde, would this still have happened? Probably. Swarley is such a klutz.

It took Isolde three days to convince me to let her stay on a training floor by herself. I still don't think she's ready, but I couldn't handle the cold glares she was giving me whenever I turned my back to her. I knew it would have to happen eventually, so I said it was okay.

Swarley was supposed to stay with her on the District Four floor, but naturally, Isolde talked him to stay with me. "I don't want Vulcan's little spy to be helping me," she told him with a little smile.

"Spy?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Blue, if I was his spy, then I would have already looked under your tunic." (How does being a spy have to do with looking at Isolde's breasts?)

The look on Isolde's face after he told her that was priceless. Her eyes got really wide and her arms folded over her chest. She chewed the inside of her cheek and tried to sink herself into her fitted shirt.

"He would never do that," I told her. "He's too much of a coward."

"Who are you calling coward?" The conversation gets sidetracked after that. In the end, Swarley and I agreed to go on a different floor.

Which brings me to now. We chose to go to District Eleven because we would have less of a chance of being noticed. We weren't, of course, though Jasmine Hollis (the mentor) did look at me for a second too long when they first walked in for breakfast.

Swarley was serving eggs. He pretended to be an actual waiter, putting the platter straight on his palm, instead of laying it out on his arm. When he went to serve the little girl, Freya, he tripped, the eggs flying in every direction. He looks at his mess as if he was a boy who just lost his little sister in a big crowd.

I react out of instinct than anything else. I quickly gather all of the eggs off of the floor and move to the table where Swarley begins to pick up eggs as well.

"Oh my gosh!" Freya exclaims jumping to her feet. There is a chunk of egg in her hair and I'm tempted to take it out. "Look what you did to me!"

"You've never looked better Freya," Dmitri says with a smirk. (I have to agree with the boy on this one. That little twit has never looked better.) She glares at him, but it does little to phase him.

"I'm sure it was an accident," Jasmine says moving to help take out the egg from her hair.

"It wasn't! That bloody Avox did it on purpose!" She points a finger at Swarley and even though he doesn't address it, I notice how wide his eyes get.

"I'll make sure to let the proper authorities know," the escort (whose name was something ridiculous like Pinecone or something) says.

"It wasn't his fault," Dmitri says to Pinecone. "We all trip at one time or another. Why should he get in trouble for doing what we always do."

"Tripping is fine Dmitri, but he messed up Freya's hair."

"So he's not getting in trouble for being human, but for having bad timing." It surprises me how strongly this boy is being toward the subject. He should just let it go, I mean, Swarley's done this thing before.

"It's not that simple Dmitri," Pinecone says running a hand through his platinum hair.

"What's so difficult about it?" The boy stands to his feet then, his hands gripping the end of the table.

"Leave it alone, Dmitri," Jasmine says. Dmitri's eyes jump to hers, his expression cold. "There's nothing you can do about it." We manage to gather all of the egg then and Swarley rushes to put it back in the kitchen. He'll get hit by the cook and then the Peacekeepers later. No matter what they do, it won't stop him from having two left feet.

Dmitri grumbles something under his breath and slumps in his chair. He doesn't eat for the rest of breakfast, though when I walk around with a plate of muffins, he takes one to pick at it.

The interviews are today, and Jasmine spends most of the day talking to her tributes, training them to say what is necessary. I don't think she is a proper teacher though. In her Games, she hardly ever spoke, and was distant from everyone. In fact I remember her only talking to one tribute, and that was because the kid wouldn't leave her alone. I guess they were friends though, because she still holds the wooden totem of a jasmine flower that he supposedly gave her during the Games.

I don't see Swarley again until it is almost time for lunch. He has a black eye and he rubs his arm roughly. He shows me some of his scars. They're all treatable with the proper herbs, which I might be able to swipe from someone's garden. I'll leave early to see if I can do it.

Before I realize it, everyone leaves for their interviews. I catch Dmitri's cold expression as he sees the black eye on Swarley's face. I like him. I hope he doesn't die painfully.

The minute they're gone, the floor changes. With no one to breathe down our backs for the next few hours, we are basically free to do whatever we want, as long as the place is clean. We quickly finish what needs to be done and gather in the television room to watch the interviews. The Avoxes who don't want to watch go to the dining room to prepare for dinner.

"You're an idiot Swarley," Edgar says to him. (Edgar Summers came last year and was the newest one before Isolde came. He was from my worst enemy, District Two, but he's an okay guy. His nickname is Three because he was caught stealing and now only has three fingers on his right hand.)

"I was practicing," Swarley replies. "I thought I could do it."

"You should have known better. Everyone knows you're the biggest klutz in Panem," I tell him. Swarley glares at me then throws a pillow at my face.

"No one asked you, Fire!" The sound of our laughter fills the floor and for a small second, it is as if nothing has changed. It is as though we are all normal people watching the Hunger Games with close friends. But when the laughter dies, we remember who we are and settle back into our identities.

"I hope Isolde's okay," I tell Swarley.

"Quit worrying about Blue. She's stronger than you think. Besides, Calanthe said she would keep an eye on her." My eyebrows scrunch together at the mention of my old friend's name, but before I could say more about it, the seal of the Capitol jumps onto the television and the interviews begin.

"Welcome people of Panem!" Caesar says. He keeps talking about stupid things that only Capitol citizens would laugh about (which some of the Avoxes do). Finally he introduces the first girl, Allyn Bonnet.

"What a beautiful dress you are wearing Allyn," Caesar tell her. (It's nice, I guess. It's a long black gown that shows her premature curves. Truth be told, I don't know much about fashion or dresses. I grew up with four sisters and yet know absolutely nothing about it.)

"Thank you, Caesar! My stylist, Brutus, is simply amazing!" I'm an Avox, meaning I know how to read emotions, and even the newest of Avoxes can see the underlying grimace on her face. The cameraman jumps to Brutus in the crowd where he smiles and waves at his adoring fans.

"Yes, well, on another subject, your training score was a solid ten, one of the highest of the tributes this year." More cheers from the Capitol. "Can you tell us anything about your skills?" She smiles very slyly and tosses a strand of stray hair back with a flick of her head.

"All I have to say about that is that the other tributes are in for something very interesting."

"I'm sure they are! " Caesar readjusts himself and stares at her for a long time. She continues to smile at him and many people laugh at their strange encounter. "I'm sorry Allyn, I just can't stop staring at your eyes! They are so beautiful." The crowd roars in agreement. They are nice. One is a grayish blue and the other is a darker hazel, almost brown.

"Yes, after an unfortunate training accident, I damaged some muscle or something in my eye and now my left is a bit darker."

"Well it looks magnificent! Don't you all agree?" More screaming. I swear there is something about the Capitol and screaming. They must all be partially deaf or something.

"With time running out, I have one last question to ask you. Who do you want to win the Games for?" She is silent for a while, something dark flashing over her face.

"There's this nine-year-old girl at home named Amber. She had to take care of her entire homeless family after her dad died and she was always a dear friend to me. If I win the Games, I'll let them live in my house at Victor's Village." The bells rings and she curtsies for the crowd. They love her, if not before, then definitely now.

Her District partner comes up next, his muscles practically popping out of the tight shirt he was wearing. The girls in the crowd roared for him and he smiles at them.

"You sure do know how to make an entrance, Lycoris."

"What can I say? I have a way with the women," he says winking at them. The girls yell even louder and I know this is doing nothing for his already high ego. Caesar makes several faces, as if the women were cheering for him, which makes the men in the crowd laugh.

"Oh cut it out, I'm not that hot," Caesar says to them. Everyone laughs and attention is back on Lycoris.

"So Lycoris, my sources tell me that your nineteenth birthday is actually in a couple of weeks, making you the oldest tribute here." They clap at the fact.

"Yup. My brother is already preparing a cake for me when I get home." Caesar fakes a gasp, earning some half hearted laughter.

"Really? You're really confident about you winning."

"Confidence is key," he replies with a smirk.

"I'm sure it is, but I can't help questioning why you only got an eight in your Private Sessions." Caesar meant for the question to be an innocent inquiry, but Lycoris didn't take it that way. His nostrils flare and his eyes get strangely wide.

"That was a misunderstanding on the Gamemakers' part," he growls.

"Perhaps it was," Caesar nods nervously and continues. "What do you think you should have gotten?"

"A perfect score, of course."

"Why is that?"

"When I was younger, my father taught me everything that I know on the Avoxes working for him. Traps, snares, sword skills, he taught us everything. Sure, some Avoxes died, but who really cares about that." We glance around at each other uneasily. This kid is twisted.

"You should have killed him instead Vulcan," Swarley jests. I smile and nod, though I'm not too sure who would win in a fight. With his obvious temper, I might be able to kill him… though I'd probably die in the process.

We're all grateful to see him leave the stage. Little demented freak. I hope the Gamemakers send a raging bear to wrestle with him.

When the camera jumps to the next girl from District Two, I swear we have never been quieter, and that says something. The tribute's name is Alana Summers, and I hadn't realized until now that this is Edgar's oldest daughter.

"_You remind me of my girl,"_ Edgar told me some time ago. _"She was always protective of her younger siblings, and fearless. Very pretty and tall. What I would give to see her one more time."_ I don't think this is what he meant. He told me once that she trained for the Games as a precaution, but would never willingly go into the Hunger Games.

"You alright?" I ask him. He looks up at me with watery eyes. His face looks like my sister's when they dragged me away to the Capitol.

"My girl," he signs with shaky hands. His sign language isn't very good to begin with and the entire situation is making it worse.

"Why don't you tell me about your family Alana?" Caesar asks. Of all the times to pull out a family card, he had to do it with this one.

"I have five younger siblings," she says simply.

"Oldest of five! Wow, I had one little brother and I hated him to pieces!" Alana doesn't react.

"With your amazing score of nine, I have to ask who taught you everything you know."

"My dad."

"He must be very proud of you."

"He would be if he were alive." Edgar sobs, his head buried into his palms. I go to him and try to comfort the poor man. If he were here a little longer, he might have reacted differently, but the memory of her is still fresh in his mind and he could still see everything about his daughter. It hurts that much more when you aren't properly detached.

Edgar leaves the room for a moment, and by the time I give my attention back to the interviews. Alana had finished and Ares is already sitting down.

"Ares Marsh, any relation to the long deceased Adit Marsh, winner of the very first Hunger Games." Ares nods happily and smiles.

"He's my great-grandfather. I'm going to follow in his footsteps."

"We've got another self-assured competitor. Looks like you and Lycoris will have to battle it out."

"I'm not worried about him." He doesn't say it cockily, but as if it was a plain fact that everyone knew. The camera flashes to Lycoris's now red face.

It surprises me how amiable this boy is. I naturally hate District Two people, but there is something likeable about him. I could probably force myself to like him if I had to.

He tells Caesar of his friends, Scorpio and Nero, who are going to be in the Games in the next couple of years and how they are going to live next to each other in Victor's Village. There is a conviction in his voice that makes us almost believe that he's telling the truth. When his time finally ends, I have a bitter feeling in my mouth.

The District Three girl comes in next (whose name is Titania and not Platinum like I had thought). She settles in her seat with a small, forced smile on her lips.

"Titania, let me just tell you that that is a very beautiful name," Caesar says.

"Thank you," she replies softly.

"You're very welcome. My sources tell me that you are a very intelligent person."

"That's because I am." I raise an eyebrow at her.

"We have very driven tributes this year, folks," he says winking at the camera. I roll my eyes. When the weak laughter dies away, he continues. "Now, being so smart, do you think you have a good chance in the arena."

"Of course. What's brute force against real intelligence anyway." I breathe out a chuckle and shake my head. The crowd responds a little, but not much, so Caesar changes the subject.

"So what is your favorite thing about the Capitol so far?"

"Gee, there are so many things," she says very sarcastically. Smirking, I glance toward Swarley.

Tapping him on the shoulder, I say, "She seems like your kind of girl." He glances back at the screen and then at me.

"No offense to her buddy, but I like women with more controllable hair." That is true. Her stylist made the mistake of letting her hair flow down her back, and while it may have been tameable at one point, now it is one large tangle.

"Besides, I like Isolde's type of hair better." I glare at him and he smirks in return. I know that he wouldn't do anything, but it still bugs me that he'd be thinking about her in that way. It's not his place anymore than it is mine to think of our newest Avox in a more emotional and/or physical relationship. "She is beautiful, you know," he continues. "I really love the way she bites her cheek when she's nervous. It's cute." I think my glare grew colder, but as always, it simply bounces off the other man.

"If I asked her out, where should our first date be?"

"Leave him alone, Swarley," Lion (nickname, of course, due to the golden mane he has) signs from beside me.

My friend nods and pretends to watch the interviews again. Just as I begin to settle back into the Hunger Games mode, he taps me on the shoulder and says, "If I did ask her out, I'm taking her to the old engineer's closet. You know, the 'baby maker'."

I'm not sure what brought me to this state of jealousy. He was only kidding, right? Either way, I couldn't stop the urge in time and my fist collided with his genitals without even a glance. My eyes went to the television immediately after, though I was not watching it. Swarley groaned and cradled his crotch, probably cursing me internally. It's what he deserves.

The others chuckle and give a chorus of "_Ooo"_s. I get a few slaps on the back (most of which hit my scarring wounds), and a few light punches in the arm as well. Nothing is too violent, because they all must know that I could beat them in a fight. (Not that I would want to.)

Titania finishes talking about this invention she came up with while in District Three as her bell rings. Her partner Jemarr is a little geeky. He talks little about his home and instead talks about his crush on Freya, the annoying District Eleven girl. The camera goes to her flushed face often, and every time I can see Dmitri chuckling in the background.

Avery goes up next, trying to hide herself under her shy exterior. Caesar works on opening her up a little before asking her more personal questions.

"So, Avery, what the big talk of the day is is that you are not with the Alliance of District One, Two, and Four this year. Can I ask you why?" (I like how he asks her why she didn't join the illegal group of practiced tributes, without asking her why she didn't join the illegal group of practiced tributes.)

"Well," she says softly biting her lower lip, "I thought I would be better off with someone else."

"Understandable. Those big and nasty tributes"-He makes a different facial expression for each adjective.- "can be very intimidating, can't they?"

"Yeah," she says taking Caesar's way out.

"I don't think anyone has to worry about you though. You are one tough cookie." They laugh at the stupid idiom which takes up the remainder of her time.

Leeum takes her place easily. He is a better talker than Avery is, and he begins to tell him about his time in the Capitol and how much "fun" it is to have Shell and Blink as mentors. When he says this the camera goes to their faces. Blink's is blank, but Shell smiles at them, but glares at the boy. I think it's funny. The rest of the time he spends talking about the ocean, which he describes in such a detail that I can almost picture it in front of me.

Kayelen is the next girl up for District Five. She is really pretty and reminds me of Isolde. They have a similar shade of light blue eyes, though hers are paler than Isolde's bright ones. Their hair is the same dark black shade as well, but Kayelen has hers cut at her chin instead of her shoulders like Isolde.

Personality wise, they are nothing alike. She answers Caesar with simple one words answers and tries to stay away from any personal topics. She gives everyone a cold shoulder and I know that if Isolde were in that situation, she would be happy to talk to anyone who would listen. It makes sense why she's like that though. Caesar mentions that she was from a community home.

Back home, I knew this girl named Olivia who was practically raised in the community home. She completely detached herself from the world and I caught her simply staring at things, never really looking at them. I liked her, and now that I think about it, she reminds me of my fellow Avox and friend Calanthe.

I feel for Kayelen a little, but it doesn't help me like her.

Her district partner is Range Alburn (That's easy to remember. All burns at close range!). Like Avery, he's a bit on the shy side, but once Caesar opens him up, he talks freely and laughs openly at everything Caesar says, even if it's not that funny. He's fourteen years old, the age my sister was when she was initially reaped...

"You know Caesar," Range says a few seconds before his turn is over, "you're an okay guy." They laugh at him and Caesar acts very flattered by the compliment.

Nell Dogwood (what a last name) seemed to counteract whatever Range was building up. She is serious, though does laugh when Caesar decides to tell an actually funny joke. She compares herself to her mentor Yvaine when it comes to their unfortunate bad luck with friends. Apparently she lost her only two friends to the Hunger Games in previous years and Yvaine lost almost everyone she knows as well. (What is up with District Six and bad luck.)

Edgar decides to return then, his eyes still red and puffy. He tells us that he's alright, though I can see the hurt in his eyes. I wonder if he already expects his daughter to die.

He taps me on the shoulder and asks me to speak with him out in the hall. Very reluctantly, I stand, knowing that I was going to miss the District Six boy's interview.

We step out and he grasps one of my shoulders. It kind of hurts, but I don't mention it. "If she dies, will you promise me something?" I don't like where this is going.

"I don't know what you mean," I tell him.

"I survived this long only because I knew my family was safe, but with Alana here..." He trails away and I can see more tears threatening to fall. I'm glad I was too young to have any children back home. "Rumors have been surfacing that you're going to take Master Rhys's place once he's finished."

"That's what he's been telling me. Why?"

"If Alana dies, I want you to send me to Master Sayda and the pods." I shake my head.

"I won't put you through that torture."

"Letting me live will be torture enough. Please Vulcan! I can't live knowing that my oldest daughter is dead and I can't even seek refuge with my wife and family. You must understand that much." I do. If I saw one of my sisters here, I don't know what I would do. It was bad enough nine years ago when I watched my middle sister being reaped.

"If she dies, I won't stop you from doing anything," I tell him. He nods, content with my answer.

I hope she doesn't die. I would hate to lose Edgar too.

**A.N. ****I am really sorry for posting this two weeks late. I've had a lot on my mind lately, and this just fell behind. Thanks, though, to **letsnotplaypretend** for reminding me about this story.**

**By the way, I didn't say which district Vulcan is from, and I probably won't ever tell you. Nothing personal, I just don't think it'll matter much. Feel free to guess though. If you get it right, I'll tell you so. **

**And on a final note, there is this one song that I can't help associating with this fic. A theme song of sorts. I do it with all of my stories. For this it is Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. Listen to it. It's a nice song for Vulcan's view on Isolde and the change into being an Avox.**

**Thank you for your support and I swear I'll try to update sooner next time.**

*Finz*


	6. No

No...

Peri is one of those girls that I would make the greatest effort to run away from. There was one girl that I always think of when I look at her, one from back home. She and I were neighbors for a little bit, and every time I spoke to her, she would be happy one minute and get angry at me the next. I try to remember what I did to make her so angry, but frankly, I have no idea.

This side of Peri isn't lost in her interviews. She'll be speaking softly one minute about something from her home, and then get angry about something else the next.

"Is she PMSing?" Swarley asks with a smirk. One of the girls hits him in the back of the head, in which he grunts and rubs it, still smirking.

She isn't a complete nuisance. I think it's amusing whenever Caesar asks her a simple question and she responds with such a force that it seems impossible for her to become calm again. But then she does a few seconds later. For example:

Caesar: So Peri, how are you liking the Capitol so far?

Peri: [eyes go wide a little and practically jumps out of her chair] Oh everything here seems very pointless and while some of the stuff here is pretty most of the time it just seems useless! I mean why would someone need green hair?

[Awkward silence]

Caesar: You're very opinionated, aren't you?

Peri: [shrugging] Sometimes.

(By the way, during that entire conversation, I couldn't keep myself from laughing. The looks on everyone one's faces was priceless. It was almost as if they were going to murder her themselves. Not smart for the sponsors, but not everyone could be a charmer.)

Caesar looks a little relieved when she leaves the stage, though it isn't too much. The Ash boy takes her place easily.

If Swarley was from a district and had darker brown eyes, I'd say that the Ash boy and him were brothers. They have similar platinum blond hair that stops just before their ears. Granted, the Ash boy is tanner than my friend, but five years away from the sun can do that to you. It doesn't help that Swarley is only six years older than him.

"Hey Swarles, I think I found your twin," I jest. He glares at me, the same time that the Ash boy playfully glares at his mentor in the crowd. Similar glares.

Unlike Kaylene's likeness to Isolde, The Ash boy and Swarley even have similar personalities. The first thing that Ash boy says to Caesar is: "You see that girl over there. She's been staring at my hot abs all night."

Caesar has fun with him. They trade jokes and different little tricks on how to talk to girls. For a second, I forget that he's only twelve years old. He definitely doesn't look his age.

"Is that you're mother's bastard?" we tease.

"Cut it out before I make Vulcan beat you up!" I raise an eyebrow at him and we laugh at each other.

"Maybe he's a long lost cousin. You should rekindle and run into the sunset together." Swarley laughs with us this time and for another moment, our predicament is lost on us.

Truth be told, this just reminds me that maybe they are related. Maybe years ago, the family had a fight and one went to the districts and the other went to the Capitol. They could be family. We all could be family.

As our attention returns to the screen, I see the shy little Adeline girl, which makes me smile. I remember how dependent she was on Dmitri during the training. He took her under his wing and would lash out on anyone who bothered to look at her for a few moments too long.

I know Caesar doesn't mean to ask it, but it comes out anyway. "Do you feel ill, Adeline?" It was a mere inquiry, nothing too deep, but it affects her. I wonder how many times she got this question. Did Dmitri or Weft ask her about it? I'm sure that annoying Freya girl did.

"No," she replies softly. "Last summer, I was very ill. My family couldn't afford the cure, so they called the local apothecary to help me. She helped me through the worst of it, and while I'm not sick anymore, I didn't get to recover." She gets sympathy from the crowd because when she was sick she couldn't afford the things that they take for granted. They may not realize this, but it still touches their superficial hearts.

The sadness is easily extinguished when her partner takes her place. He was the one who couldn't stop talking and annoyed me to no end. He jumps in his seat and shakes one of his legs throughout the entire interview. Caesar accepts this, though even he seems overwhelmed by his illimitable energy.

"Do you think you can win this thing, Weft?"

"Well yes and no. I mean, there are times when I think that I can but then I don't really know because I can't do too much and I got a horrible training score. Adeline didn't do too hot either, but that's different because she doesn't know how to do stuff, but just can't show it. Did I say she didn't know how to do stuff. I meant that she does know how to do stuff. Sorry, I do that sometimes. Anyway, I get like that, too, but I really don't know how to show it. Our mentor says that I should try and prove myself through personality, but I'm too nervous to do any of that. How do you think I'm doing so far?"

"Very good. I have never met a tribute who could say that many words in one breath."

"Well I did take a lot of breaths, but they were small so you really couldn't hear them..." And it starts all over again. He has my vote, even though he won't last too long.

I swear that the next girl up is ten years old. She has multiple little freckles on her face and is incredibly small, even more so than Weft. Her name is Galena and her interview is nothing too memorable. She acts very sweet and covers her true intentions behind a cute little mask. I catch a strange look in her eyes every so often, something that scares even me.

Her district partner is more or less the same, except he doesn't try to hide behind a mask of cuteness. Jersey Wilcox is down right cold. His stare is more of a glare as he addresses Caesar with very simple and truthful answers.

"Are you afraid of what the Gamemakers are planning in the arena?" Caesar asks him.

"Oh no. If I die, I die. I was going to die anyway, so no point in getting all scared about it."

I can't help feeling for him, though. As an Avox, we all have our dark periods, where we think those exact thoughts. I have no doubt Edgar is having them now. I had them years ago when I first became an Avox and was still assigned to the Transfer. Some people grow out of it, but others, like Beatrice, still find the thought comfortable.

"He reminds me of Irene," Swarley tells us. A few people raise eyebrows at him and he turns desperately to me. "You remember Irene don't you, Fire? She purposely went to a pod on her thirtieth birthday. She was here for only a couple of week and we didn't even get to find a nickname for her."

I remember her, only because she looked my middle sister, Nephele. This sister and I never got along, but she was the one who was crying the most when I was forced into the train to the Capitol. Irene and Nephele didn't look alike, but the way Irene carried herself was so much like my sister, it was uncanny. I shed a single tear when I heard that she killed herself.

"I don't know who you're talking about, Swarles," I tell him. He tries to add more memories, but when he notices the cold glare on my face, he stops and lets it go.

As if remembering Nephele isn't enough, the next girl Otillie from District Ten, looks like my oldest sister Nina. They have the same shade of red hair and pale green eyes. This girl has freckles, which Nina never had, but it doesn't stop their likeness.

(Nina was my best friend. Our family owned the apothecary, and my parents were always there. It was Nina who raised us. She was always the wall that we needed, kind of like Master Rhys. She was the one who taught me everything I know about medicine, and even offered to give up the apothecary (her only birth right) so I could have it.)

Otillie isn't entirely like Nina though. My sister was always calm and involved with every aspect of our lives. Otillie seems a bit off, as if she isn't really there. Her voice is incredible though. It's really soft and calming, something that would put you to sleep at night. Nina used to say that my voice was like that.

"Back home," she says with her gentle voice caressing the crowd, "I would get up just before the sunrise and lie down on a meadow that was always green no matter what the season. There were a few yellow and white flowers peaking above the dirt and they would wait with me to see the sun. The sunrise in District Ten is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It peaks above the horizon and the first thing you see is the small rays of light dashing in every direction. And then you feel the immediate warmth consume every inch of your body and for a moment it is pure bliss." The crowd is in awe at her and I don't blame them.

"I've never heard anything so beautiful," Edgar says slowly. I nod at him, noticing his dry face.

I decide to whistle a little tune for them. It is a soft sound and could be depressing if I don't hit the notes right, but normally it is a calm happy song. I used to sing it all the time for Beatrice to get her to smile or whenever someone was having a bad day. Despite my dry lips and lack of breath, I push myself through the song and although it isn't my best, it still makes the room smile.

When Caesar introduces the next boy, Dustyn, we turn our eyes back to the television and watch the scene with a little more interest than before. Luckily he doesn't remind me of anyone from home.

He is sort of like Otillie, except not as detached. He isn't shy, but he's very quiet and doesn't answer Caesar's questions with as much enthusiasm as Weft or some of the others.

"How are things for you here, Dustyn?"

"Alright."

"Are you enjoying yourself? I know if I came to the Capitol for the first time I would be absolutely speechless." Caesar makes a very ridiculous face with his eyes wide and mouth in a small "o." Plenty of citizens chuckle at the expression.

"It is very different," he replies.

"District Ten seems very depressing," Swarley tells us.

"I'm from that district," Lion says. "Trust me, it is a bit of a downer. We always smell like dead animals." And that is even more of a reason for us to call him Lion.

Dustyn isn't someone to take advantage of though. I remember seeing him in the training room and he wielded the whip almost effortlessly. He didn't stay at the station too long (he just wanted to get a feel for it) but it was enough to catch Ares's eye. I remember seeing the two boys talk from time to time, but Dustyn never tried to join the Careers in lunch. He may not be as strong as the others, but he is definitely someone to watch out for.

I stand to stretch when Freya takes her place. The little twelve year old looks like a little doll with her hair in pigtails and a light pink blush on her cheeks. I consider sitting down, but decide against it when I think of the loud, shrill voice who cried rat on Swarley. I don't feel like listening to her, so I walk outside for a little bit.

Years ago, on my first year here, there was this girl that walked straight up to me and asked me to give Master Rhys the book he holds so dearly and Jasmine the jasmine flower that almost never leaves her side. She was beautiful and I loved how easily she spoke to me, almost as if she didn't know that I was an Avox. I never did get her name and whenever I ask Master Rhys about it, he just smiles, shakes his head, and begins to read his book.

That was the very first time I saw him smile. It was a real smile. One of the ones that you see and you know instantly that everything will be alright and that things will get better. I haven't seen Master Rhys smile like that in a long time.

I lean against the wall, wishing that I could get a cigarette. It's a rarity for us to get any of the real Capitol stuff, but it's easy to get the "natural" stuff from the apothecary's garden. It works all the same and feels even greater when we're in the shit hole (mainly because of Master Rhys's paintings). I wonder if I can get Calanthe to get me some.

Deciding that it was safe to go back inside, I slide back into the room. Freya is long gone and Dmitri has already taken her spot. I stay back and watch silently, instead of going to my seat.

In terms of conversation, he reminds me of Ares, being very easy going to Caesar and cracking a few jokes. (He even mentions what happened earlier with the eggs, which earns him a glare from Freya.) He talks about his job at home and how he used to take care of the trees in the orchard. He jokes that the skill will be really useful when he goes into the arena.

"How is it that you met your wife?" Caesar asks wiggling his eyebrows. The crowd "ooo"s at the question causing Dmitri to smile and blush.

"My love, Sorrel, was walking by the mayor's house while I was caring for the plants there. She dared to tell me that I wasn't doing my job right." He looks at the camera, almost as if he is staring into this girl's eyes. "Babe, now that I think about it, I'm sure I was messing up, so I apologize. I think I was paying too much attention to you when you were passing." It's a cheesy line, but it's obvious that he is sincere about it and not just saying it to win over the crowd. They swoon at him and cheer for the poor boy.

"I heard you had a daughter as well."

"Eden, yes." His smile has never been brighter, but then it darkens very quickly. "I'm sure everyone saw her cling to me on the day of the reapings." He pauses for a moment and stares at his hands. "When I found out I was being sent here, the very first thing I did was went to Jasmine, my mentor. Everyone knows how she runs a privately owned home for the poor and abused children in the district. Well, I made her promise to take care of Eden and Sorrel if I don't return home."

He looks into the camera again. "You hear that, babe. Everything will be fine. You'll be taken care of. Just tell Eden that I love her more than anything in the world."

It's hard to explain how silent the crowd is. The emotion is so palpable that I can feel the tenseness ease through the television.

Then someone claps.

And the entire crowd follows, standing up, and screaming for him. Even we clap for him. Dmitri lets the smallest trace of a tear slip down his cheek, with a smile still on his face.

"Thank you, everyone, for your support." He stands, takes a humble bow, and returns to his place with the others. Caesar even seems to be moved, really moved not the fake stuff he does sometimes. He waits for the crowd to calm down (which is a lot longer than anticipated) before speaking.

"What a kid," he says. "And the show must go on. Next one up is Angelica Tyler." Despite the saddened mood Dmitri gave them, they still managed to clap for the multicolored-hair girl.

It is easy to fall into the groove of the interviews again. Angelica isn't exactly in my favorite list, but it's not completely horrible. She reminds me of Jemarr from District Three. She a really big flirt, curling her hair around her finger and batting her eyes at Caesar. She seems like most of the other District Twelve tributes: appealing, but overall forgetful.

"Back to work before they find out what we've been doing," Lion says standing. He turns off the television, despite many people's protests, and walks out the door. I follow him, and I can feel them take my lead and join us back into reality.

* * *

I catch the slightest trace of the moon before entering the shit hole. Swarley and I leave early so we can avoid another run in with the little demon (Freya). You know, she isn't that bad, but I still don't like her.

A couple Peacekeepers pass us, sneering as if we were wearing rotten fish. Another smirks at me and lets out a horrible guffaw at Swarley's black eye. By the time the fourth one passes, I wanted to beat them up, but this one was different.

(There are the good Peacekeepers. They are the ones who aren't as mean as the others and try their very hardest to do what is right, even though the others aren't. There are many of them in the shit hole, but they make an effort to stay invisible.)

This Peacekeeper looked very familiar. I think he is one of Master Rhys's friends who smuggle paint in for him. I probably saw him around the tracks from time to time. He never bothered us, so I never said anything. He looks straight at me, even meeting my eyes. There is a question behind his gaze and the minute he speaks, I know what it is.

"Medic?" (Another nickname, except this on is among the good Peacekeepers. They found out my gift with medicine after I helped out one of Master Sayda's Avoxes when they ran into a pod, and the name stuck ever since.)

I nod at the name and he jogs lightly toward me and Swarley. When he reaches me, he pauses and glances around. The tunnel is bare for the time being.

"Something's happened to one of your Avoxes. I don't know how to explain it, but she needs your help." I lift up an eyebrow and glance at my friend. He shrugs.

"A couple of Peacekeepers came across this girl. They always harass her, but I never thought they'd take it this far."

My mind races. Who did they attack? Was it Isolde? Or Calanthe? What did they do to this person? Was she beaten to death then thrown into a pod? Was she set on fire and then thrown into a pod.

"Rhys tells me that her name is Beatrice." My eyes grow wide and the man in front of me looks at the floor. "Medic, they raped her and beat her badly. I don't think she's going to make it."

No. Not Lovely... no...

*Finz*


	7. For a Lack of a Better Name

For a Lack of a Better Name

People spend their lives wanting to feel loved or wanted. It's a plain fact of life because on those days when you sit down and begin to realize how miserable you are, you need to know that there is someone who loves you anyway.

But sometimes, that isn't enough. These are the cases when they had someone they loved torn from their sides and they realize that no matter what they do, they can never be loved again. Those people are damaged and in most cases unable to move on to find real love again.

Beatrice is like that, and she has been ever since she came here. But she was getting better. Master Rhys was helping her and so were the rest of us. When I look at the poor woman now, I know that her chances of filling this empty void is long gone.

She sobbed as I weakly cleaned the wounds of the whippings and applied different medicines to the multiple bruises and lacerations. She sobbed as Isolde gently caressed her hair and tried to calm her down. She even sobbed when Swarley tried to make her laugh.

It seemed hopeless. That is, until Calanthe came back.

Cal is one of those people who could disappear for hours on end and no one would realize. Not only that, but she hardly ever does what people tell her. So it doesn't surprise me that when Master Rhys tells us that from now on, we are not to go into the tunnels by ourselves, Calanthe is not seen minutes later.

"Where have you been Cal?" Master Rhys asks her angrily as she struts back into the base. She glances at him and then at Beatrice. Ignoring Master Rhys, she walks to Beatrice and takes her hand.

"The men who did this to you are gone," she tells her. For the first time since I got there, Beatrice stops crying. She looks up at Calanthe in disbelief.

"You found them? How Cal?" The young blond girl smiles weakly and caresses her forehead with her thumb.

"She has a fever, Vulcan. You should treat that," she tells me without looking at me. I glance through the herbs I have and respond to the problem.

"Can't you answer me, Cal?" Lovely continues to question.

"Rest. You look tired." She nods at Calanthe's words and closes her eyes. Before I let her sleep, I force her to drink white willow for her fever. Though I don't feel much heat when I check her forehead, I figured the medicine would be okay for any inflammations that I can't see.

"Did you really find out who did this to her?" Master Rhys asks Cal. While I can still see the anger in his eyes, I also note the curiosity as well. Majority of the other Avoxes also have this curiosity as they lean in to see Calanthe.

She pays no attention to them, rather she keeps her eyes on Master Rhys. "I couldn't find anything, but I figured it would be better if Beatrice didn't know that." I have never seen Master Rhys glare seriously at someone other than Calanthe.

"Cal, why would you feed her such a horrible lie."

"I'll find them eventually." She shrugs and lets her eyes glance at Beatrice's broken body for a moment. "Besides, she should not be leaving the base any time soon."

"You don't lie to people like that." She raises an eyebrow at him and forces back her smirk.

"So you want me to tell her that the people who beat her, raped her, and practically threw her into her depression is still alive somewhere." Her sarcasm is lost on him.

"You shouldn't have said anything to her at all."

"I'm going to find them Rhys." (I know I shouldn't be surprised but, I still can't believe that she calls him Rhys, even in private.) "And I will make them pay one way or another." She turns away from him and disappears into the darkness of the tunnels. She'll be back tomorrow morning to go to the Mentors' Hideaway, but we won't see her until then.

Master Rhys runs a hand through his hair and looks at me. "Will she be alright physically?"

I nod. "I treated all of her visible wounds. There is something I can give her to ease the pain as well. Though, mentally..."

"Don't worry about that. I will take care of it." My eyes trail down to Beatrice who sleeps soundly on Master Rhys's bed. Her beautiful face is morphed and disfigured to resemble one of the Capitol's mutts. I wonder if that was what the Peacekeepers wanted. Did they want to make Beatrice even more into the Capitol's image?

"Sleep, everyone," Master Rhys tells us. "We still have to work tomorrow."

* * *

We get back to our lives. Dwelling in what happened to Beatrice wouldn't do anything but cause us more heartache. Besides, it isn't very uncommon for Avoxes to be abused by Peacekeepers, just never as badly as Beatrice has.

Just as I predicted, Calanthe returns in the morning. Master Rhys takes her aside and speaks to her with quick, unfinished signs so that no one can eavesdrop on them. Cal, being the best signer here, understands him easily. She doesn't appear irritable when they finish, so it must have been good. She walks up to Isolde and I with a smile.

"Hey Cal. Are you staying with us?" Isolde signs (not fingerspells) to her. I raise an eyebrow at them.

"She asked me to teach her some signs," Calanthe says simply. As grateful I as I am for it, I can't help feeling jealous that Isolde had asked her to teach her instead of me (since I was technically her teacher).

"It was nothing too big, Vulcan," Cal assures me. "I know how impatient you can get with people, so I wanted to help." Of course she does. I hate how much she knows about everyone. It wouldn't surprise me if she knew Swarley's first name.

"Yeah," Swarley says walking from behind us and putting an arm around Calanthe's shoulder. "Let good old Cal teach Blue a thing or two. Everyone knows that you're a shitty teacher anyway." I glare at him, earning me a laugh from Isolde. (I like her laugh. It has a melodious tone to it that makes me wish I can sing to it.)

"I am not," I tell him.

"Sure you are. Everyone knows it. You hate noobs almost as much as Cal hates the rules." He got two glares this time and an even louder laugh from Isolde.

"I don't hate noobs," I say.

"And I don't hate the rules that much. Only the ones that the other masters come up with," Cal adds.

"A likely story," Swarley fingerspells so he can stroke his invisible beard.

He thought that was the end of the conversation and is very surprised when we begin to walk to the Hideaway and is tripped by Calanthe. He falls flat on his face, nearly bumping into a stink bomb pod in the process. Knowing Cal, she probably expected him to fall on the pod.

"Bitch," he manages to finger spell. Isolde can't stop laughing and frankly, neither can I. Cal crosses her arms over her chest and shakes her head before helping him up.

When he gets to his feet, he shoves her and sprints as fast as he could. Calanthe laughs and rushes after him the minute she catches her balance.

Then it's me and Isolde. We walk closely, but not close enough for me to graze my fingers against hers. I remember that day when she had clenched my hand when she saw the Gamemakers. If I did that now, would she get mad at me? Probably.

I take the risk to look at her. Her eyes are elsewhere, but I can still see the brilliant blue curiosity seep through them. Her full red lips are pulled back into a smile, weak, but a smile nonetheless. I want desperately to see a real smile from her, but it may be a little too much to ask for while she's living here. She links arms with me and beams at me. I guess this is the best I'm going to get.

We run after Cal and Swarley the laughter of the four of us bouncing against the walls. We paid no attention to the other Avoxes we passed or the pods we might have accidentally set off. We simply ran and laughed and ran some more. And it was great.

There was sweat building along my brow when we caught up to Cal and Swarley who were leaning against the wall while shoving each other weakly. They were still in small fits of giggles. Isolde and I took a place beside them for a moment to catch our breaths.

"The Hunger Games start today," Isolde says, her face solemn. We glance at each other, but don't say anything.

"Don't worry about it," I tell her. "It happens ever year, and will continue to happen for the rest of our lives."

She sighs and rests her head on my shoulder. I look at her with wide eyes then glance at Swarley and Cal. They are both smirking from ear to ear, though Calanthe's eyebrow is also raised. Both faces blank instantly however when she lifts it up and decides to stand.

"We should get going," she says.

"I actually have something I need to do," Cal says, standing as well. "I'll meet you for the night-shift."

"Where are you going?" I ask her as I follow the girls' example. "I thought Master Rhys was pissed with you enough already." She shrugs and brushes herself off.

"He thought Beatrice's case was more important." She looks at Isolde and smiles sincerely. "You probably won't see much of me in the next couple of days." The blue-eyed girl nods and embraces her. How much did their relationship grow in a couple of days at most?

"When do we ever see you Cal," Swarley teases. She shoves him once more, then disappears into the shadows.

"I thought Master Rhys didn't want us to be off by ourselves," Isolde says. I shrug.

"Cal has never been one to follow the rules," I tell her. We begin walking again, though Isolde is a few steps ahead of me.

"But she does respect Master Rhys. She said so herself." I raise and eyebrow at her and try to focus my eyes on a little pebble in the floor.

"Since when have you and Cal been buddies?" I ask kicking the rock. It makes a weak _tap_ before disappearing from my sight.

"She helped me with the alphabet when I first got here." I didn't know that. "She had a mnemonic device for it. Master Rhys said that she is the best signer here." My stomach churns and my lips press together.

"That's because she is," Swarley says. I glare at him.

"Well then why did he send me to you?" It is an innocent question for her to ask, but it makes me furious.

"I don't know," I tell her with my face crunched together.

* * *

The Hideaway is always calm before the Games. The mentors meet around the large clear platform that will show the hologram of the arena when the Games begin. They talk to each other, joke around, and if there is a newer mentor, they assure them that there is nothing to be afraid of.

We stay back and watch them. In most cases, we aren't needed due to the food simulators in each of the District rooms, but since they are broken, they are having us run to and fro the kitchen to bring them whatever they want. On normal years, a small handful of us linger around in case they need something from the outside world.

Swarley and Isolde stick to my side as I find a good spot for us against the wall. We are commanded to stay hidden from view and only be seen if we are needed.

Jasmine Hollis glances at me, but otherwise makes no other look towards us. Theseus Zartonigh from District Two is talking to Yvaine Sastre from District Six. The two have been here for as long as I can remember, and while Theseus is a generally amiable fellow, it is easy to be irritated with him, especially when he talks about his sister.

"Aria and I were talking about possible arenas this year and she thinks that Lee is going to add some kind of water force." Lee is really Avonlea Blythe, the Head Gamemaker. "Aria predicted on three deaths from mutts this year because she said that there were too many last year."

"She's right," Yvaine replies. "They're probably going to try and turn them against each other."

"With the tributes this year, it won't be too hard."

The lobby is a large wide area with dark tile floor and pale walls. Large comfortable chairs are scattered along the room as well as a fountain in the corner closest to the main entry. Behind the row of Avoxes are the broken food simulators. On the right and left walls are numbered doors for each of the mentors. Inside of the rooms are similar large chairs, futons, two televisions that focus only on the district tributes, a tablet table for the sponsors, and a refrigerator for water. The hologram map is in the very middle of the lobby and a large television acts as the back wall. It is split into two main parts, the top strip and then the main television. The main television shows the live feed that the rest of the country sees, but the top strip has eight different screens that jump from tribute to tribute.

The three youngest mentors are Knox (District Five), Warren (District Ten), and Cameron (District Nine). They won the last few years and they seem to stick together the same way the older mentors do. Knox is the newest one and he leans against Warren like Isolde does to Cal and me.

"Ten bucks the arena will have water," Cameron says.

"The arenas always have water," the other District Nine mentor (named Archer) says.

"No one was talking to you," she says with a soft glare. He smirks and raises an eyebrow at her.

"I'll take that bet," Acryl (District Eight) says.

"Really?" Warren says with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah," Acryl replies. "Visible water I mean. They'll probably have water inside trees or quicksand or something more difficult to find. It would be more interesting that way."

"More interesting, yeah, but since when has someone actually survived that way," Cabel (District Three) adds.

"It would pick off the weak ones early," Blossom (District One) also adds.

"Maybe," Cameron tells them, "but it wouldn't be fun for the Capitol." And then they know that she's right and Acryl realizes that she probably lost the bet.

"Fucking Capitol," Knox mutters under his breath so that only Warren, Cameron, and a few of the Avoxes hear him.

All of the lights of the room come to life, the blinding television filling the room with eagerness and sorrow. Almost half of the tributes will die today. It's enough to make even the most optimistic person feel down.

The tributes come into view on the screen, but the mentors' eyes are not on there. They gather in a close circle around the map of the arena, different ideas coming into their brain.

"That'll be a perfect base for Galena."

"I just know Peri will end up going there."

"Jersey's going to love that place."

"Otillie better not go there."

"Damn it, Cameron! You were right!"

She was. The tributes were stuck on an island with at least a half of a mile of water between them and dry land. From there seems to be an endless wave of tall grass and past that is a maze of trees. Besides the lake, there is a large glacier in the mountains, too high for anyone who isn't a good climber.

The tributes glance from the golden horn in the middle of the island and the tide lapping against the sand. Any tribute who can't swim will be screwed.

Despite the circumstances, the mentors remain calm. Cameron, Knox, and Warren sit beside Acryl and Cabel ignoring the television, almost completely. The others stand around, glancing from the map to the screen. Isolde's face scrunches together as her eyes jump from mentor to mentor.

"Relax," I spell into her palm. She glances at my blank face then takes a few deep breaths. I hope she doesn't throw up like Lion did when he first got here. It was embarrassing for all of us and it smelled for most of the Games. I'm sure she can hold her stomach. Well, I hope so.

Despite the mentor's calm demeanor, it all seems to change when the gong rings, signifying the beginning of the Games. And everything happens at once.

"_Run Jersey! Run!"_

Jersey Wilcox is the first to get out of there. He grabs the backpack closest to him and then the closest weapon (a small knife) before sprinting to shore. He hesitates for a good ten seconds before wading his way through the water, then doggy paddling to shore.

His district partner, Galena, follows Jersey's example and grabs the first thing she can get to (a loaf of bread and plastic). When she reaches the water, however, she isn't too sure what to do. She glances around, then tries to do what Jersey does. While sloppy, she does get to the other end.

"_What the hell, Egan?" _

The young boy picks up a knife and weakly tries to run to one of the Careers. Before he could reach one, an ax buries itself into his back. The Ash boy pulls the weapon from his back and before he could react, or even realize what happened, a mace snaps the boy's neck. Even I gasp at the loud crack.

Lycoris releases the mace and takes the bloody ax from the Ash boy. The District Two boy looks at the Ash boy's body then shoves Lycoris.

"What the hell! He was on our side!" He grips the ax in his hand and presses his lips together.

"He had my weapon," the District One boy says, shrugging. Ares opens his mouth to say something then catches sight of someone and runs away to get to them.

"_Hurry up, Ares! Get that girl!"_

I jump a little when I see the blond hair swinging the glistening sword at the District Twelve girl, who weakly holds a spear. She hardly has a chance to block him as he stabs her in the abdomen. She coughs blood and falls to the floor. He stares at her for a moment, then runs to fight someone else.

That someone is Shane Sixx, her district partner. He seemed to have harbored some kind of crush on Angelica and upon seeing her death, he tries to run to Ares with a knife. He never gets a chance to get to him, because Alana throws a knife into his back. He falls with an inaudible thud.

"_Good job Dustyn! Almost there Otillie."_

Dustyn managed to grab a whip and two packs of beef jerky from the Cornucopia before diving into the lake. He is swims easily and gets across the water before Jersey does. He disappears into the grass and the camera changes to Otillie.

She took the knife out of Shane's back before Alana could get it and runs out of there before she could get to her. She scoops up a small water skin and, like Jersey, hesitates when she sees the water. She glances back to see if Alana was still there then manages to swim across.

She almost drowns when she hears the horrible gurgle beside her. The District Five boy, Range, is drowning less than a foot away from her, desperately trying to grab onto something. Otillie stares for a while then continues on her way. By the time she reaches shore, the boy has already been lost to the water.

"_What are you doing, Titania?"_

The Three girl hides in the tall grass around the Cornucopia, completely unseen by the others. She holds an empty knapsack, a water bottle, and a small bottle of iodine against her chest as her eyes jump from tribute to tribute. I wonder what she is thinking right now?

"_Whoa, there Nell. Just calm down."_

The Six girl with really bad luck trips over Shane's body, her panic stricken face searching horribly for someone who was going to attack her.

"_Damn it, Nell! Run!_"

And almost as if she can hear her mentor, she stumbles onto her feet and follows the other tributes to the water, muttering words under her breath until she is wrapped around the cold grasps of the murky water.

"_You coward, Avery! Fight those tributes like a real man!"_

The Four girl hides in the grass as well with Peri beside her, trying to pull her toward the water. Avery holds a blowgun dart in her hand, shakily trying to get it ready.

"Come on," Peri says. "Save it for another day."

"Let me get Lycoris, then we can go."

"No way! That little bitch needs to be knocked down by a redwood then sent through a shredder to die, and even then he'll probably still have a beating heart."

"I'll meet you across the lake," she tells her. Peri scowls but rushes away.

"_Quit fighting with Freya and swim_!"

Dmitri, Adeline, Weft, and Freya are along the water's edge. The little Eleven girl screams in Dmitri's face and even he looks irritated.

"We fight another day, Freya!" Dmitri cries with his face red. "Come on, let's go."

"Let me light the grass on fire and then we can go!" I raise my eyebrow. Pretty good idea from someone who's so obnoxious.

"There won't be time," he counters.

"Then you can go and I swim across later," Freya says.

"You told me you couldn't swim," Dmitri tells her with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I can if I wanted to!" She stamps her foot and juts her chin out.

"Freya!" Dmitri yells grabbing her shoulders. "Quit trying to act like you know how to do everything and just admit you need my help." She shoves him away and takes a large step back.

"I can get across Dmitri! Just go with Adeline and Weft and I'll meet you." He sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

"Fine, but I'm not coming back if you need help."

I may not like Freya, but she does have guts. She takes a match and waits until her three allies are at least half-way across the water before moving not too far away from where Peri just ran from Avery and lights the tall grass alight.

Avery is caught by the fire before anyone realizes what's happening. Kayelen is taken next as she stares at it with wide eyes. By the time she comes to her senses, she is engulfed by the burning pits of warmth. The girls' cries burns my ears and I turn away as the camera flashes to their burning bodies.

The Careers grab whatever they can from their supplies and rush to put out the fire before it reaches their supplies.

Freya stares at the water, unsure of how to cross. She could see her allies across the lake, but it's obvious she doesn't know how to get there.

Through her distraught, she fails to notice Lycoris who holds the ax in his hand. He stares at her with bright eyes and he prepares to get her. But then Jemarr (the boy who had a crush on Freya at the interviews) comes out of no where and tackles him, or at least tries to.

"Run Freya!" he cries. She stumbles back into the water and turns to try and swim, but not before she sees Lycoris's large ax behead the boy who saved her.

Amidst the shock and fear of her drowning, she forgets what she is doing and begins to panic in the water.

"Freya!" Dmitri cries as he dives in to try and save her.

He's too late, by the time he gets to her, her lungs are filled with water and her body cold. He holds her out of guilt and refuses to let go.

"We have to go," Adeline says. He nods and forces himself to leave Freya on the beach. They grab whatever they managed to get from the Cornucopia and disappear into the tall grass as the Careers continue to stop the fueling flame.

**A.N. I hope I wrote the bloodbath properly. When I was writing about the individual tributes, it was all happening at once, so it was hard to properly write without constant repetition. It's something I personally hate reading in tribute POV stories, so I hope I didn't do it here. **

**Again, if I killed your tribute, it was nothing personal. I actually liked all of the tributes, but someone had to die. Remember this is based off of skill alone. If your character was cut, I hope you still continue to read.**

**And here is a small guide to my Avoxes:**

Vulcan: District Avox "Fire". He is the narrator of the story and has a big crush on Isolde. He has been an Avox for seven years and became one when he killed a Peacekeeper that was whipping one of his friend's little brother.

Isolde: District 9 Avox "Blue". How she became an Avox is unknown to everyone. She is very beautiful and Vulcan often associates her with her bright blue eyes.

Swarley: Capitol Avox. A jokester who often fails to take anything seriously. Being only eighteen years old, he was thirteen when he became an Avox (the youngest to ever become one).

Master Rhys: Capitol Avox. He is like the all-knowing being among the Avoxes and is held highly for his wisdom and strength. Vulcan looks at him as a father figure as most people do. He was the one who taught them the language of Avoxes. He is generally treated with great respect, even with the conductors or Peacekeepers in the shit hole.

Calanthe: Unknown Avox "Cal". She became an Avox around the same time as Vulcan. She is noted for being very fluent in the language, sometimes even more so than Master Rhys. She blends in to her environment and is sometimes not seen for many days.

Edgar Summers: District 2 Avox "Three". The newest Avox before Isolde came. His daughter is in the Hunger Games and he intends to kill himself if she dies. Vulcan notes that he is normally amiable.

Beatrice: District Avox "Lovely". She is a two-year Avox who had given birth to a baby girl only a few weeks before being shipped to the Capitol to become an Avox. She is emotionally unstable and easily preyed upon by the Peacekeepers.

**A Moment of Silence For:  
**Jemarr Fae  
Avery Thalstock  
Range Alburn  
Kayelen Avila  
Egan Maueros  
Asher "Ash boy" Rackton  
Freya Zeger  
Shane Sixx  
Angelica Tyler

*Finz*


	8. Perfection

Perfection

Ilsabeth from District Twelve is the first to leave the mentors hideaway. The District Five mentors follow close behind. It seems useless to hang around after your tributes die, but sometimes they do, if anything to stay away from reality because, believe it or not, when you are in the pale room with black tiles, it is easy to forget everything. For me anyway.

Until Cal comes back.

She has a strange skip to her step that I saw once before a couple of years back when she had successfully escaped a third beating from the Peacekeepers. (She holds the record for never being hit by a Peacekeeper and by the looks of it, she'll stay that way for a long time.) The mentors pay no attention to her because of her lack of physical appeal (though she does have beautiful blond ringlets that would look nice if she cared for them properly).

She slides between Lion and I with a smug smile on her face. When she catches my eyes on her, she raises an eyebrow. In response to her question, I allow my eyes to look her up and down. She smiles more sincerely and nods. I narrow my eyes a little and press my lips together, my hand traveling around my face in a clockwise motion while going from closed to open then closed again: the sign for lovely. She tilts her head to the side, but then understands and takes a little breath before shaking her head.

I nod to myself and allow my eyes to fall to the floor. Cal shoves me a little and I glance at her. She looks at Isolde then smiles at me. I raise an eyebrow at her and her smile broadens, gently nudging me in her direction. I glare at her and her smile turns into a mocking grin. I shake my head as subtly as possible. But she doesn't stop. She keeps staring at her, and I'm convinced that Isolde will feel her eyes on her.

Isolde never does turn around, but that doesn't stop Cal from nudging and bothering me about her. I finally try to elbow her, but she seems to sense my motive and sidesteps at the perfect moment so that I hit the wall instead. I groan at the contact and glare harsher at Cal. It seems really easy to hate her right now, and I can understand why Master Rhys does sometimes.

Her face blanks for a moment and she narrows her eyes at something. I glance from her to the direction she was looking at and eventually she points to her line of sight with her chin.

Majority of the mentors have already retired into their quarters to check for any sponsorships, but Cameron of District Nine and Warren of Ten remain seated on the large black loveseat. They sit closely together, their hands entwined as they look at the large television.

Cal narrows her eyes at them, then glances at Isolde and I again. A ghost of a smile touches her mouth for a moment, but it doesn't last long.

I swear Cameron looks at me for a good five seconds. Our eyes meet before she smirks a little and nuzzles her head into Warren's neck. He kisses her head and leans against her. I wonder, if Isolde and I were in the same situation, would we do the same? Who am I kidding, we don't even have anything now. Well, not unless you ask Calanthe.

"How long do we have until someone asks for us?" Cameron asks.

"An hour maybe," Warren says. "Moira won't come for me unless Otillie and Dustyn do something. I kinda doubt they have sponsors."

"Same with Galena and Jersey." Cameron sighs. "They're good kids. It's sad how all of the money will go to the kids who don't need it."

"That Dmitri kid has sponsors."

"He's from District Eleven. He could survive off of plant identification alone. He doesn't need it."

"Neither do Galena and Jersey. If anyone from the real Districts were to win, then it would be them." I can see the smile on her face as she turns to face him. Her hand goes to his cheek, gently caressing the scruff building on his skin.

"We should go," she tells him.

"Why? It's not like the Capitol has cameras here."

"Do you really think that?"

"No." Cameron smiles at him and gives him a quick, lingering kiss. He smirks, holding onto her waist as she tries to stand.

"Warren," she says.

"Cameron," he replies equally.

They stare at each other for a few seconds before she gives him another kiss, this time on his nose. He loosens his grip on her just long enough for her to stand and walk to the door with the large Nine on it. She glances in my direction once more before going inside.

Warren sighs and glances at us before motioning to Lion to get him water. The District Ten Avox nods and rushes out of the room to fetch him his beverage. When he returns Warren is already inside of his room.

We are left alone in the lobby, though we do not relax. It only takes a moment for someone to open the door and command something of us, and it only takes a moment before we are busted. Cal, however, stretches and walks to where the closest chair is and sits down. Isolde smiles at her and tries to follow, but I hold her wrist back. She glances back at me with those bright blue eyes and I shake my head gravely. She glances back at Cal before settling by my side again.

"Wuss," Cal says to no one in particular.

It's awfully quiet in the room, more so than I can bare. I fix my tunic, motioning for the Avoxes to spit up and assist the mentors separately. Swarley waves at me to follow him to the District Eight door, but I shake my head. He narrows his eyes at me and stares at Isolde. She glances at me and when I don't do anything, she follows Swarley to District Eight.

"Why did you do that?" Cal asks me. I shrug and stare at the large eight on the door. "She wanted to stay with you," she continues. "If you said no, then she wouldn't have been mad."

"I know," I reply simply.

"Then why didn't you?" I shrug and shake my head. She rolls her eyes at me and stands, dusting off her pants.

"Come on, lover boy. District One is the only one not taken. Big surprise there." I stare at the floor, refusing to meet Cal's eyes. Something gnaws at my chest, as if I would explode if I don't get it out right now. A hand touches my shoulder and my eyes instinctively shoot up. A soft drum begins to beat on my skull, but I force myself to ignore it.

"Are you okay?" Cal asks me. "You can go back if you want." I shake my head and try to step toward the District One door, but I lose my balance and stumble forward. Cal catches me before I hit the floor and puts one of my arms around her shoulder.

"We're ditching this place." she tells me. "I'll take you somewhere to relax." I shake my head and try to push her away and straighten myself, but she pulls me closer by wrapping an arm around my waist. I glare at her and she smiles.

"Don't worry. I go there all the time."

She leads me through the shit hole easily. It surprises me how much she knows about the tunnels and such. I've been here for the same time and I still have problems navigating through the Northern tunnels. Cal knows her way easily and could even predict when and where someone is coming so we can hide.

She stops in front of a small door that must lead to an apartment complex because it doesn't seem as used as the one in the alley. Cal leans me against the wall then searches her pockets until she pulls out a set of keys. Glancing at the furrow in my brow, she says, "Snatched them from a Peacekeeper when he wasn't looking. Drunk bastard." I shake my head and chuckle.

With Cal's help, I pull myself through the door and is met with the blinding lights of a superficial Capitol hallway. I glance around to make sure no one can is there before dragging myself against the wall. Cal appears seconds later and locks the opening before walking down the hall and stops in front of a door. Surprisingly, she unlocks it with one of the keys on the ring and motions me to follow her.

"Are you insane?"

Her eyebrows furrow together and replies, "Of course." When she notices that I'm not moving, she sighs. "The owner is dead with no children. Since she died in the apartment, they all think it's haunted and no one will live in it. It's still furnished and shit, so we even get to watch the Games."

My head begins to spin. I clench my eyes and take a fistful of hair. Cal's gentle, but firm hands find my arm and helps me to my feet. We slowly walk to the haunted apartment.

It was well furnished, with multiple oddly shaped chairs and couches and tables. All of the cabinets are open and empty. I see a small hole in the wall then notice the gutted camera on one of the tables. Calanthe is very thorough.

She sets up a futon by the television and sits down. I take a seat beside her and focus on my breathing. It's been a while since I've sat in a chair that was actually comfortable enough to sleep on. I feel Cal tap my shoulder and I open my eyes to see her holding a glass of water and aspirin.

"How did you-"

"If I can find myself an apartment, I could get aspirin," she manages to fingerspell while holding the medication to me. I take it gratefully and relax against the couch.

Cal turns on the television, making sure that it is at the lowest it could be on so the neighbors don't hear. The thin walls are a well known trait in Capitol homes. She pulls her legs to her chest and leans back so that one shoulder blade is against me and the other is on the futon.

"Comfortable?" I ask with a smirk. She glares at me before playfully elbowing my side.

The Careers are on the screen, talking quietly into the dead silent evening. They are still on the island and by the lack of wetness on their clothing, I can assume that they never left. Ares is tending to the fire, while the others are eating what looks like jerky.

Lycoris eats his bitterly while glancing from Ares to the fire and then back at Ares. I wonder if he is considering pushing him in.

"Why are we waiting anyway?" he asks bitterly. Ares raises an eyebrow at him and settles down beside Leeum with a smile.

"I thought we went over this."

"That Ten kid isn't showing up. We should have killed him when we had the chance." Ares opens his mouth to respond, but Alana does so for him.

"Dustyn is giving us information about the arena because if we just go around searching for a fight while the others already know their way around, it's like walking into our own graves."

"In other words," Allyn adds, "we need this stupid kid so that we don't die in the shit hole we are staying in for the next few days."

"What they said," Ares says with the same sincere smile. Lycoris simply glares at him.

"I ought to be leader," he mutters.

"You ought to have spared Asher, but that didn't happen, did it?" Leeum mutters under his breath. All eyes jump to the normally quiet District Four boy. Ares slaps him on the back and nods.

"You see, even Leeum agrees with us."

"He'd agree with anything you say," Lycoris shoots back bitterly.

"Well it's not like I'm forcing him." Ares turns to Leeum. "I'm not forcing you right?"

"No," he replies.

Ares turns back to Lycoris. "See? So what's the problem?"

"So what's the problem," he mocks in an octave too high. I feel Calanthe chuckle beside me. I know what she's thinking. He'll get his ass kicked.

The camera switches to where Dustyn is. He appears to be at the foot of the large mountains that quickly slope up so that they could support the large glacier and the only water source in the area. The camera jumps to a few other tributes (Galena, Titania, Peri, and Otillie) who are hiding either in the trees at the base of the mountain or on a flat enough slope by the glacier. The four girls established a great distance between each other, despite the fact that they are in the same vicinity.

Dustyn brings his jacket closer to his body, catching the multiple cold drifts stinging his cheeks. His breath comes out in white clouds as he stalks away from the mountain and back into the tall grass. He mutters small words under his breath, and although I can't hear him, his lips seem to move in a way that says, "Stupid lazy Careers couldn't find their own way around."

Galena, who is still in a tree at the base of the mountain, catches sight of Dustyn as he leaves. She bites her bottom lip, anxiously watching the boy as he maneuvers through the thin line of arbor. Her fists are clenched lightly as she leans in. When he makes it to the grass once again, she curses under her breath. She must have set up a trap that Dustyn narrowly missed. The Careers won't be happy about that.

On the other end of the miserable place is Jersey, who appears to be doing something similar to what Dustyn is. He sits in a small patch of uprooted grass, which he seems to have done so himself as seen by the pile of stalks by his side. He burrowed a hole in which holds the supplies he got from the Cornucopia. His base is at the edge of the thick maze of trees, though he refuses to get lost in there. He holds a mangled branch in one hand and smooths it out with his knife.

He covers up the hole with the grass, cleverly placing the grass so that it looks almost natural. Once he's finished, he walks away, admiring the fork like branch in his hand.

He slowly enters the passage into the forest maze, sticking to the long shadows along the trees. His steps aren't silent, but with the chirp and scampering of the animals capable of maneuvering through the trees, it is difficult to tell the difference between him and the natural noises.

The maze does not twist and turn as much as it should, but it still puts him on edge. He clenches the branch lightly, as his steps gradually become quieter. When he pauses, he seems to have found what he was looking for.

In the middle of the maze is a large lake, with bright blue waters and beautiful little flowers growing around it. It is completely still and it is safe from any wind that might stumble in. Nell Dogwood sits at the edge of the lake, admiring the water and trying to weave herself a net to go fishing. She seems to be partially successful, though not as intricate as something a District Four tribute would make.

Jersey eyes her cautiously, his grip on the branch changing quickly. His breath stays level with the gentle caress of the wind as his piercing foggy brown eye refuses to leave her. He glances around the serene place before turning back.

Deciding that Jersey is no longer interesting, they change to Adeline, Weft, and Dmitri, the only surviving alliance other than the Careers. They are walking amongst the grass still, Dmitri's head popping up above it. His normally smiley face is twisted into a frown, his eyes never leaving the horizon. Weft speaks of nonsense and of his cousin Loom who had once tripped into a broken window. Adeline plays with her thumbs nervously, glancing from Dmitri to Weft with unsure eyes.

"Where are we going Dmitri?" she asks softly. He pauses for a moment and sniffs the air.

"It's humid here, don't you think?" he says absentmindedly.

"I guess," she replies, "but what does-"

"I think it is humid," Weft interrupts. "It doesn't get humid much in District Eight, but boy, when it does, you can tell. Everyone's sweating and smelling and one time-"

"Yeah, I get it bud," Dmitri says. "I thought I smelled it back there, but I wasn't sure."

"Smelled what?" Weft asks bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Like mildew and water. There's probably a swamp up ahead."

"What good would that do? I've never seen a swamp but Loom told me once that-"

"It gives us a water supply and a possible home. There was a small swamp back home so I'm sure I could identify something." Dmitri smiles weakly, but it doesn't have the spark it normally has.

Adeline places a gentle hand on his arm and he looks at her. She gives him a grave smile and ask if he's okay in a small nearly inaudible voice. He shakes his head and runs a rough hand through his hair.

"I shoulda stopped her," he grumbles. "I always knew Freya was stupid sometimes, but she was always smart enough to know when to stop. I mean..." He trails off and takes a deep breath. His hand jumps to his pocket and he manages to smile at his allies.

"We should make camp before my big head gives us away," he jests. Adeline nods tentatively and Weft returns to his naturally hyper-self.

"I think he's stupid," Cal signs to me. I raise an eyebrow at her. "That girl did what she did because she wanted attention. Not only that but he is way too young to have a kid. Irresponsible bastard."

"You call almost everyone a bastard," I point out. She pauses for a moment, rethinking all of her recent conversations.

"Maybe, but that's because everyone is these days." I would have laughed if it weren't for the serious face she had while she was signing to me.

"Cal?" I ask.

"Yeah?"

"What should I do about Isolde?" She pushes herself away from me so that she could look straight into my eyes. I try to meet her intense hazel eyes, but my green ones end up darting away. Her hand finds mine and gives it a gentle squeeze.

"Show her because right now, telling her anything is something lost in translation." I smile at my friend and nod my thanks. Despite my earlier jealousy, it is easy to remember what a good friend Cal can be. I smirk to myself and glance at her.

"So what District are you from?" I ask innocently. She narrows her eyes at me with a playful grin.

"Nice try, but that's not going to happen."

Hours pass and I have more fun with Cal than I've ever had in my entire life. She makes me food from supplies she recently stole from a neighbor who thinks they have mice. She makes a warm stew with fresh vegetables and shredded beef. As I watch her expert hands handle the food, I know that she has to be from District Ten or Eleven. When I ask her, she smirks, and shakes her head.

"Aw come on Cal. I told you where I'm from."

"That's never been a secret."

"And yours is?"

"I don't want to be treated differently because of where I'm from." I glare playfully at her and lean against the counter.

"You're from the Capitol aren't you?"

"Seeing as whatever answer I say to that will be taken in the wrong context, I refuse to respond." Then she flicked oregano in my face and started a food war.

After cleaning up and eating a decent meal for the first time in quite a few years, we settle on the futon again and watch the Games once more before returning to our dungeon.

Peri is on the screen now, lying down on her back and staring up at the stars. The Capitol's anthem plays in the background and she taps her foot to the rhythm. She doesn't seem the least bit frightened by what might appear through the grass and her supplies is scattered around her with little care.

The night sky comes alive with the faces of the dead tributes. The second one is Avery. Peri looks away, rolling onto her side so that she didn't have to see the others. She chews on her bottom lip for a moment, then jumps to her feet.

"I'll make them pay! I swear I'll kill Lycoris for you!" Her chest heaves at the force in which she screamed, which probably wasn't smart, seeing as she isn't too far from the island. The wind is the only one to reply, giving her a wave of dry air. She slows down her breathing then settles onto the floor.

"He will die," she mutters.

* * *

Cal and I slide into the tracks when everyone is already settled for bed. No one bothers asking where we were, though Master Rhys motions her away the minute he sees her. He smiles at me before the two walk into the tunnels. Isolde leans against the wall, her bright blue eyes not having even the slightest trace of sleep. Her eyes meet mine and I smile at her.

Thinking of something, I motion her to me. She comes too easily and I ask if she wants to go somewhere with me. When she accepts, I lead her to the door to my alleyway.

The tunnels are too quiet for my likings, and while I may not know them as well as Cal, I do know that complete and utter silence almost never happens around here. There is always the drip of water, or the roar of trucks from the transfer, the steps of other Avoxes or Peacekeepers. There is always something. Tonight, it is silent.

We get to the door and I am careful to open it as quietly as possible. I pry it open with a _creek_ and have her follow me to the wall.

We have a perfect view of the moon which on this particular night is bright and full. Isolde's eyes glow against them, giving the rest of her body an angelic aura. She stares at the satellite open mouthed. This must be the first time she was able to see it sense she became an Avox. Her eyes fill with tears and she bites the inside of her cheek.

I lean toward her, not really knowing what I was doing. She turns to me and while I should have pulled back immediately, for some reason, I don't. I keep getting closer until finally, my lips meet hers.

It was soft, innocent, and nothing like the ones I see from some of the whores in the Capitol. It was perfect. She is perfect.

**A.N. I thought I would end it on a happier note this time, since the last few have been very sad. **

**I am really sorry for not updating. I get out of school in one and a half weeks, so I've been focusing on that crap lately. Fear not, I will update more frequently now that I'm almost out.**

**I loved all of your reviews last chapter. It made me really smile! **

*Finz*


	9. She Has to Be Right

She Has to Be Right

"Holy shit, Fire, you kissed her didn't you," were the first words Swarley said to me the next morning. I shook my head at him and continued teaching Isolde the sign for absolute.

"Well, did you at least make it good?" he asked after. Isolde smiled (unfortunately, she knew enough to know exactly what he said) and put a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"Actually, it wasn't what I expected." I smiled at her, knowing what that meant.

"What? You mean he's actually a good kisser? You have got to be joking. I mean, I heard rumors, but I think he lacks experience..." And he went on like that for at least an hour (or at least it felt that way).

When we came back earlier, Cal was waiting outside of the base, whistling one of the songs that I sing whenever I'm bored. She smiled at us and punched me lightly before leaving into her tunnels. Even without her speaking, I knew that she knew what I did.

Swarley, of course, wasn't as nice when addressing the problem. I wouldn't say anything and Isolde wouldn't stop smiling at him.

"Come on, Blue," he said as we approached the Hideaway. "You gotta give me something."

"There's nothing to give," she replied. And I swear, I loved her even more.

Isolde stays with me as we go to the District Ten room. Cal is with us as well, because she claims that she needs to work in the tunnels at night. I'm not sure if she's telling the truth, or simply wants to keep an eye on us. Either way, I knew I would be getting questions from her.

Warren and Moira hardly gave us a sideways glance as we entered, though Warren looked a little at Isolde as she settled into the corner of the room. I narrowed my eyes at him, and caught Cal smirking at me.

Most of their attention is on Dustyn, who barely made it to the island with the Careers. He walks to the fire and takes off his jacket and shirt so they could dry. He tosses the remains of the jerky packs in the pile of food as well, and takes a water bottle.

"Go ahead, make yourself at home," Lycoris mutters bitterly. "It's not like you weren't contributing to the group or anything."

"If that boy don't shut up," Moira says, "I'll have to jump into the Games and beat him myself." I smile at her as Warren pats her on the back to calm her down.

"Shut up, Lycoris," Allyn mutters. She is sleeping next to Alana and Leeum, while Ares returns from his post by the lake.

"So what did you find Dustyn?" Ares says. At these words, the rest of the Carrers stir and sit up. Leeum rubs the sleep out of his eyes as Alana wordlessly goes to the food and chews on an apple.

"Most of the tributes are at the mountain exactly north of here," he says. He quietly glances at the other tributes' faces, but quickly looks away when he meets the cold expression that Lycoris is giving. "Uh, the glacier on the tops of the mountain appears to be the only water source around here. The Eights and Dmitri are at a swamp south of here. The water doesn't look sanitary, but I'm not sure."

"What are we gonna do with 'I'm not sure?'" Lycoris snaps.

"Lycoris," Ares glowers.

"I thought his only use was to tell us about the arena, but he sucks at even that." Dustyn hangs his head and Moira throws her hands up angrily.

"Let me at 'im, Warren! Let me at 'im!" Warren, restrains her and asks for a glass of water and wine for them. Cal runs out of the room to do the deed.

"Don't talk to him like that!" Ares snaps. "He's done more than you did. So shut up or go away."

"You're not the boss of me!" Lycoris exclaims, jumping to his feet. The two boys stare each other down, and despite the fact that Ares is shorter than the other boy, his expression is just as strong.

"I'm the leader here!" he growls.

"But you shouldn't be!"

"Cut it out both of you!" Alana cries getting in between them. She holds a long knife in her hand, prepared to use it at a moment's notice. "This is not the time for you to be at each other's throats! We should wait until the final eight first!" Ares takes a step back, taking deep breaths to try to calm himself down.

Lycoris is not doing the same. He shoves Alana roughly to the side, but she stands her ground and hardly takes a few steps. The knife in her hand flies in his direction, prepared to attack. He lunges forward to grab at her neck, but at that same moment, a sharp _snap!_ echos through the arena. Dustyn's whip snaps Lycoris's wrist, the metal tip digging into his skin. He moans and cradles his injured hand.

"You'll pay for this, you little bastard!" he exclaims. Dustyn holds his whip strongly, almost daring him to try and come at him.

"You won't be doing anything as long as you're here," Ares says with his sword in hand. Leeum and Allyn stand beside him, each with their own weapons in hand. Lycoris seems to understand how outnumbered he is and relaxes.

"Yeah, whatever," he mutters. He pushes past Dustyn and searches through their supplies until he finds the gauze to wrap his bleeding hand.

"Thanks for that," Alana tells Dustyn. The District Ten boy smiles at her and nods.

"It's what he gets for making fun of me," he mumbles with a small smile. She smiles innocently at him for a small moment in time before quickly masking it.

"Why don't you finish going over the arena, Dustyn," Ares says slumping onto the floor. He runs a hand through his hair and takes a deep breath. The Ten boy goes to his side and sketches a rough outline of what he thinks the arena looks like. It is a very rough comparison to the holographic one in the lobby, but has most of the key points.

Cal returns with the wine and water and Warren takes it gratefully. He doesn't say his thanks (like most people) and she joins Isolde and me again. She glances at us with a raised eyebrow then begins to bounce on the balls of her feet. I mirror her expression and she smirks before shaking her head.

I turn around to see that Isolde is glancing at Cal and I while biting the inside of her cheek. I smile at her and gently rub the back of her hand. She seems to understand what I say and nods in response. She does not smile though, and I feel responsible. I take her hand and lead her out of the room quietly. Cal doesn't even give us a strange expression as we leave.

Jasmine from Eleven is lying down on the couch as we enter the lobby. She doesn't look up. In fact she says, "Since you're there, can you get me something to eat. I don't really care what, just anything." I move to fulfill the order, but Isolde gently touches my back and rushes to the kitchen. I groan internally, but don't move to stop her.

The Eleven mentor pulls herself up and glances at me. She blinks quietly then turns toward the screen. She doesn't try to speak to me or anything. She simply ignores my presence, that is until she says, "I remember you. I see you almost every year, but I just wanted to tell you that I do remember you." I notice the flower totem in her hand as she admires the craftsmanship. "Thanks, I guess." And she says no more to me.

Isolde returns with a small dish and a glass of white wine. She moves to give it to Jasmine, but the mentor stands and motions for us to follow her into her room.

Swarley is in there, leaning against the wall with his eyes partially closed. When he sees us, he straightens himself and I notice Jasmine roll her eyes. I wonder where the other Avox is, but he probably left when Jasmine stepped outside. Isolde places the platter on the table and takes a place beside Swarley. I stand on her other side.

Jasmine hums softly to herself as she glances at the food on the plate and eats a little. She taps on the touch screen that controls the sponsorship money and glances up at Dmitri's screen.

His alliance found a small dry flat of overgrown grass and weed that doesn't hold the water like the rest of the marsh does. Weft muttering words to himself, nonsense words like before. "My mom and dad once told me... and then there was that time that my younger twin brothers were trying to get me to... and boy that was great! That reminds me of another time..."

Adeline listens to him part of the time, the other part is focused on Dmitri. He walks along their small camp grabbing different edible plants around them. He brings several roots and berries to his nose and lips before either adding them to the pile or tossing it to the side.

"Should we try to see if we could clean the water?" she asks. Weft pauses for a moment and glances eagerly at Dmitri.

"Sure," he says without turning around. "Hey Weft, why don't you take the water pouches and fill them with water. Not around here though, search for the cleanest source in the marsh. Got it?"

"Yeah sure, of course! I mean, this will be fun right? I always wanted to try but my mom, wait no, my dad said that..." Dmitri pauses to give him the water pouches and points him toward where the water might be. He doesn't stop talking once.

"Geez that kid can talk," Jasmine mutters under her breath.

"You need help?" Adeline asks. Dmitri shakes his head and turns toward his smile pile of food. It isn't much, maybe just enough for a day.

"I'll get more tomorrow." He pauses and looks at her with bright eyes (well not as bright as normal, but brighter than the last time I saw them). "Maybe I'll teach you how to identify some stuff. For when I die, you know." Adeline's eyes get wide as she looks at the boy.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I am gonna die eventually. There's no way I could fight my way through anything, and even if we somehow managed to get to the end, there is no way I'd kill you or Weft to get home. That's not right."

"But your daughter?"

A ghost falls over his face as his hand goes to his pocket. "I'll regret not being able to see her, but I'd regret killing someone to get there even more." He pulls out his token, a photograph of his family. He admires the photo for a while before stuffing it into his pocket. "They'll be okay." He said that more to himself than anyone else.

"I'm sure we'll survive," she says to him. He smiles at her and laughs.

"Yeah, we just might. I mean, since we're as far away from the Careers as possible." Weft returns with water then and begins to talk up a storm, like he normally does. Adeline and Dmitri welcome his nonsense words as a distraction, even talking with him and asking him questions. They laugh together and it is almost as if they were their own family. It is sweet and sad at the same time.

I notice Swarley glancing at Isolde and me and I raise an eyebrow at him. He smirks and shakes his head. I narrow my eyes at him and his smirk turns into a strange grin. I don't like that look. He gave me that look a couple of years ago and it ended in me getting my ass whooped by a Peacekeeper that was stupid enough to think we were actually giving him melted chocolate.

He nods toward the door and takes Isolde by her arm. My eyes turn into small slits as I stare at him. He shoves me toward the door and pulls Isolde a little closer. She glances from me to him and nods. I groan internally, but accept her wishes and leave the room. Jasmine doesn't look back as I do so.

Simone (Grape) is leaning against the back wall, waiting for something to do. She salutes at me and I smile and salute back. The vine that trails down her neck winks at me as she motions me toward her. I stand beside her and she fingers a dead cigarette bud. Simone smokes the most out of all of us, something that she had to try and break since becoming an Avox three years ago.

(I'm not going to lie, I really liked Simone when she first came. She wasn't like the other Capitol Avoxes who moan all the time. She did her part as long as she had her cigarettes. I liked that she was strong and could take care of herself but the problem with that is that she could take care of herself.)

Simone watches the television, bringing the bud to her lips. She breathes out as if it is actually alight and offers it to me. I shake my head and she shrugs and stares at the television once again.

The first tribute that I notice on the screen in Jersey. He is very far from where his base and Nell is at. He walks north, toward where the glacier is. He notices the sudden change in weather as he continues forward. While it was very hot where his base is, it is incredibly cold toward the mountain. He holds the branch in his hand, waiting for the proper tribute to attack.

As he approaches the small group of trees at the base of the mountain, he pauses and glances around. He narrows his eyes at the trees and then at the clear area around them. I remember Galena placing several traps there yesterday and I wonder if Jersey senses what his district partner had done. He sidesteps to the trunk of the tree and glances up. Sure enough, Galena is wrapped around a thick tree branch, fast asleep. He smirks to himself and, just like with Nell, he let her be. (Though he has a very perverse expression while doing so.)

Unlike Dustyn, he walks up the side of the mountain in search of more tributes. (I'm sure he has already inspected his half of the arena and found Adeline, Weft, and Dmitri.) The first tribute he sees is Peri, lying within the small patch of grass on the mountain side. She must not know how to climb trees (which is strange considering she's from District Seven).

She is playing with the grass, trying to tie it with the different knots she saw during training. She curses every time she messes up (which is very often) and after a while she throws the grass and crosses her arms over her chest. Jersey takes a step toward her, his knuckles on the branch slowly turning white. Peri stands, and he sinks into the grass. She sighs, pulls out another long blade of glass, and tries again. Jersey moves away from her, deciding it would be best to be on his way. She curses at least three more times by the time he leaves.

He sees the glacier before seeing another tribute. The large block of ice clings to the mountain, not dropping a single drop of water. (I have to give my props to the Gamemaker who came up with that one.) He places a hand on it, inspecting it for anything out of the ordinary. There is a small empty area that looks as though it has been hacked away at for a while. He takes a step back and glances around.

The same time he does that, Titania comes toward the glacier with a branch much thicker than Jersey's in hand. The Nine boy jumps back and hides himself in the trees. She looks around cautiously, staring at the trees, as if knowing that someone is in there watching her. Eventually, she turns toward the glacier and begins to slam into it with the branch. Small pieces fall and Titania quickly grabs them.

The only one left is Otillie, who found a flat area higher up the mountain. She rests comfortably with her knife in hand, prepared to strike at a moment's notice. As Jersey stands above her, I remember my sisters.

Maris and Demeter were the ones who fought the most. They were the closest in age (barely one year apart) and were always fighting about one thing or another. Demeter, being the younger of the two but also the stronger one, would slide into Maris's room at night and smother her with a pillow. Nina or Nephele always caught her before doing any real damage, but there was one time when Nephele had gone to a friend's house and Nina was helping out one of the Huntington boys with a bad case of malaria. Demeter had gone into Maris's room like always, and she pushed the pillow over her head like normal. Thing is, no one was there to stop her.

Maris almost died that night. I (being only five years old at the time) had to try to pull off Demeter, which didn't work, but she stopped so that she could shove me into the bathroom. There were a lot of yells and insults yelled after that night and when Nina came home, she simply said to Demeter, "Next time, Vulcan won't be there to stop you and then what?" She never tried to smother her again, but they did still fight, even after Demeter was reaped.

As I look at Jersey, I half expect him to jump on top of Otillie and smother her with a pillow. He moves his branch incredibly close to her neck, but then pulls it away. His head tilts to the side slightly, and eventually he walks back down the side of the mountain, muttering how cold it is.

I feel Simone nudge me a little and I glance at her. She asks me if I'm okay, obviously not caring if anyone sees. I tell her I'm fine, but her eyes narrow a little. She points to my cheek with her cigarette bud and turns away from me. My hand goes to my cheek and I feel a small round tear settling just above my lip. I take it in my hand and stare at it. I was crying, but why? I use my sleeve to wipe away whatever other tears I may have and nod my thanks to Simone. She nods back.

"Hey!" I turn toward the voice of Cameron from Nine as she sticks her head out of her door. "You think we can get some soup in here?" I nod in response and walk toward the kitchen. I wonder where her Avoxes are.

I see Cal on my way there. Her hands are stuffed in her pockets and she chews on peppermint leaves (a habit that she's had ever since I've met her and almost got her killed a couple months back). She smiles at me and follows me to the kitchen.

"Are you and Isolde okay?" she asks. I glance at her and nod. "I hope she isn't jealous of me and you. I mean you're great and all, but you're too much of a hard ass for me." I narrow my eyes at her as she smiles. "Aw come on, you can't say that isn't true." Compared to what I was before I became and Avox, I was a hard ass, but compared to some of the other Avoxes, I say I'm very care free. Not as care free as Cal, but then again, no one is as care free as her.

"Swarles and I have a bet that you'll break up whatever it is you guys have by the end of the Games. I say you'll last, but you know Swarley."

"Yeah," I say. That makes me very suspicious of what he was doing with Isolde while I was gone. I hope he didn't say something stupid.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn around to see Edgar. He has multiple sweat pits bleeding onto his pale white shirt and he pants to catch his breath. After finding out about Alana, Master Rhys thought it would be best to keep Edgar away from the Hunger Games. He must be on his break and literally ran all the way here to talk to me.

"How's my girl doing?" he asks.

"Great," Cal replies. "She's still alive and all, I mean. Not like the Careers have done anything though." Edgar nods gratefully and places a hand on his chest.

"You swear to tell me if something happens Cal."

"I swear," she responds.

He nods again and saunters off. I look at Cal whose face might as well be a blank sheet of paper. "Will you really tell him if she dies?"

"Of course not, but he doesn't need to know that."

I glare at Cal. "Like how Beatrice doesn't need to know that the men who raped and beat her are still out there."

"Exactly," she replies plainly. She narrows her eyes at me, obviously sensing an argument. "It's hard enough for some people, we don't need to add extra burdens."

"Lying isn't the answer," I tell her. She raises and eyebrow and smirks.

"Why not?"

It is a good question. It is reasonable and should have a very simple answer. But there isn't one and that bugs me because there should be."Because it just isn't," I finally say.

She sighs and pauses to lean against the wall. She rubs her temples and shuts her eyes. After a while she looks up at me. "There was another attack to one of the girls in Master Aramis's group. She was delivering goods upstairs and they took her. Same thing they did to Beatrice."

I blink a couple of times and shuffle my feet. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because telling Lovely the truth wouldn't change the fact that they are still out there." Her words are heavy on my heart and my stomach begins to knot up. "Sure I could tell her what happened and that they are still out to get her, but what would that achieve. Nothing. I won't tell Edgar what happened because it won't change the fact that he can never see her again."

"You don't know that," I say, not backing down from my last chance of winning the argument. "If she wins, we could get him inside."

"Sure we could, but if he really wanted to see her again, he would have gone to see her before they went to the Games." Her truth hurts me in a way I didn't know was possible. She's right (damn it, she's always right!) and I hate how she feels she is responsible for telling everyone. "I'll see you later. Grape wants some more cigarettes." I nod curtly and she walks away.

A couple bad trips and burns later and I am back inside of the Mentors Hideaway. Simone is gone by the time I return and my hands are beet red after I practically ran back to make up for the lost time with Cal. Cameron doesn't say anything as I give her the dishes. She simply nods thankfully. Though her partner, Archer, mumbles a few words under his breath.

I feel lost and a little lonely as I stay in the lobby. Despite the urge I have to whistle something, I know that it would probably be very inappropriate and possibly life threatening. Instead, I tap my foot to a rhythm in my head.

I watch the screens again, desperately looking for some action. Right when I think about calling it quits for the day, I notice the Careers beginning to arm themselves and I see Lycoris swinging his ax.

The Careers are going to go hunting and that means there is only one room that I belong in now. I go to the District Two room with a small hole in my stomach.

**A.N. I didn't edit this because I didn't have time, so there are probably a bunch of mistakes. I'll go through it later to try and fix them.**

*Finz*


	10. It's Really Just Blood and Guts

It's Really Just Blood and Guts

The only people who actually enjoy going into the District Two room are previous District Two citizens or Hunger Games lovers.

This is because mentor Theseus Zartonigh is there. There are two very important things about this man. One is that he has been a mentor for years, despite the fact that he could easily switch with one of the many other winners, giving him an insight to the Games that many people don't normally see. The second is that he loves to talk (and he talks all the time). It is difficult to stand his voice after an hour of hearing him go on and on about his son Cinna and his sister Ariadne. During the Hunger Games, however, it is a little different. Sure he still talks up a storm, and yeah he still annoys the hell out of me, but during the Games, he gives the best commentary I have ever heard.

I stand next to Molly, Rhoslyn, and Grig. They are all District Two Avoxes and all of them hate me just as much as I hate them. It is silent as Theseus goes to the restroom and Silk (the other mentor) is asleep.

(Silk Deluxe is insane, though no one really knows why. She doesn't speak and the only reason why she is a mentor in the first place is because Theseus's voice puts her to sleep.)

The Careers are slowly going across the lake. Besides Leeum, they are all horrible swimmers and Ares can barely do a doggy paddle. Leeum helps him across mainly, and that slows him down as well. They are all moaning and groaning as they reach the shore.

"I hate water," Ares mutters and he tries to wring out his shirt.

"You just haven't been around it," Leeum jests, his legs still resting in the lapping waves.

"Ergo, I hate it." Both boys laugh softly.

"So what do we do now boss?" the Four boy asks. Ares pulls his shirt back on and glances around the tall grass. He could see the mountains in the distance and he narrows his eyes at it, probably trying to calculate how far it really is.

"We should charge the mountain and kill them all!" Lycoris proclaims, thrusting his ax in the air. Rhoslyn snickers.

"Well, that is the plan, but I don't know," Ares mutters.

"Don't know about what?" Lycoris growls, gripping his weapon a little too tightly.

"Relax," Allyn mutters with a flick of her wrist. "You'll get to kill in a minute."

"I wasn't talking to you," he snaps at her.

"Yeah, but you're irritating the hell out of everyone so I thought I should shut you up now before we end up killing you instead." Leeum and Dustyn seem to struggle to hide back their grin as Lycoris glares at his district partner.

"You'll regret that," he mutters.

"Sure, I will," she says, rolling her eyes at him. She turns away from Lycoris and faces the Career leader. "You figure out what we're doing yet?"

"Yeah," Ares replies. He points to the other side of the arena, where the sun is still climbing up. "The Eights and Dmitri are that way, right?" he asks Dustyn. He confirms his words and Ares continues. "I think Allyn and Alana should go that way and then the rest of us could start going up the mountain."

"Why do the girls have to go after the unarmed trio?" Allyn asks, crossing her arms. "Do you think we're weak or something?"

Ares glares lightly at her and rolls his eyes. "If you don't want to go, then fine. Dustyn can go with Alana."

"But Dustyn can't even fight," Alana counters. "I mean how can you kill someone with a whip?"

"He did fine protecting you earlier," he says with a smirk. She glowers at her district partner, daring him to continue. "It shouldn't matter much anyway," Ares adds. "None of them look like fighters so just pick them off one by one. Dustyn can torture them with his whip and you can kill them. That sound fair?"

She mutters something under her breath and turns away angrily. "Come on, Ten. This shoudn't take long." She stomps away and Dustyn rushes behind her.

Theseus comes in then and saunters to his chair. It looks like her had a little too much to drink as he slurs incoherent words together. I crack a smile as he yells for Grig to get him water.

"Okay, okay. Good job, Ares, good job. Separating them to get the other competition. Good, good. Shouldn't have sent that boy though. God I'm thirsty... the other kid would have been better, Ares. The Four kid. Yeah, that one would have done more damage than that weakling. Damn it, where is that water!" His rambling reminds me of Weft, though his is due to drunkenness instead of the hyperactivity in the little boy. I breathe a laugh and press my lips together to keep from smiling too broadly.

"You guys-" Allyn clears her throat and Ares rolls his eyes playfully before continuing. "-and Allyn, ready?" They mumble their approval and then head toward the mountain.

Grig returns with two glasses and a pitcher of water. He places it on the table for them and then pours a glass for Theseus. He takes it and nods at the Avox before drinking the entire glass in one large gulp. He slams it down on the table and wipes away the remains on his face with the back of his hand.

"Let's get this show on the road," he mutters. He rubs his hands together and straightens himself so that he could see the televisions properly. Licking his lips, he nods to himself. "Alana Summers, age seventeen, with the best aim with a spear that I have ever seen. I should probably send her one before she meets the trio below." He goes to the touch screen that controls sponsorship. Minutes later, a silver parachute falls from the sky and a spear appears a few feet in front of her.

"Good. She could take them down easily now. Her first shot should be Adeline. She is weak, and a much easier target than Weft. The other boy should kill Weft. Then they both take on Dmitri. That mountain daddy has enough reason to get home to give a good fight." He entwines his hands together and rests his head on them. I can see him playing with the dry skin on his bottom lip.

"Ares should send Leeum in for the first kill. He seems like the one who will back down first, so he needs to know that he will kill if necessary. If he can't then might as well get rid of him now." He sighs and leans back, closing his eyes for a moment.

"If I know Lee, she'll send something their way. A snowstorm or an earthquake to move the glacier. Snowstorm is more likely. If they are caught in it, it could easily kill them off. No, no, too easy. A snowstorm first, then a heat wave would be better. Chill them to the bone, then make it too hot to bare. Just enough for them to continue to survive." He nods to himself several times. "Ariadne would cut off the Careers from their supplies. Make an earthquake so furious it would split the arena in half. Maybe even an acidic pool of water. I should send him pH strips to test it before swimming back."

Ares, Allyn, Lycoris, and Leeum are almost half way there. They leave an obvious trail behind them as they stomp through the grass.

"Ten boy says that there are traps. He should have Allyn check out the arena first. She has a much better eye than the others. They will probably be in the very middle of the forest then thin out as they move on. They shouldn't stay among the trees for too long. Stay near the grass until you get to the mountain."

As he continues, I can't help admiring his insight. How many years has he been a mentor? Twenty at least, maybe even more. He knows the Games so well, he could predict what they will do and when they will do it. If he were ever to go back into the arena, he would win hands down. For a District Two citizen, he is very impressive.

The Careers make it to the forest. Ares, unable to hear his mentor's wise words, leads them straight through the trees, paying little to no attention to the possible traps. The others don't question his judgment as they search the treetops for a tribute.

I can see Galena, leaning back in the very tops of a tree. She sits perfectly still and unless you know that she is there, it is difficult to tell. Well, that what I thought until Allyn begins to bark up her tree.

"Look what I found!" she cries. The three boys go to her side and she points at Galena's fear stricken face. She doesn't dare move, probably hoping that she will be able to blend in enough that the others will think she is imagining. All the while, Theseus is mumbling words at them, probably calling Ares an idiot for not being more careful.

"I don't see anything," Lycoris growls.

"It's right there you idiot," she cries pointing at the mass that is Galena.

"I don't see anything either," Leeum admits.

"It's there! Open your big ass eyes and look!"

Ares squints at the branches and takes a couple steps back to see if he could get a better look. He, unfortunately, steps in one of the girl's traps. His leg gets caught in what appears to be twine (or maybe it is something else, I can't really tell) and falls onto his back. The other three turn around to see if he was alright, and that is when Galena jumps from her tree and into the neighboring one.

"Damn it! I told you!" Allyn tells them.

"Who cares! Just go after her," Ares proclaims.

I am pissed off that I can't see what is going on with the others. All we get to see is Ares struggling to untie himself from the trap. Theseus yells at him.

"You should have listened to her, damn it! That's what you get for thinking you are right all the time! If you had just fucking had someone climb up there, none of this would have happened! You brought this on yourself." He rubs his eyes with his palm and takes a deep breath.

"She is smart. They won't kill her, but I have a horrible feeling that she might kill one of them with her traps."Almost as if he is a psychic, the cannon fires and Ares is tugging at his bondage with more determination. When he is finally free, he dashes through the trees calling out his allies' names. Finally, he finds them.

"We split up. I thought that whoever it was was going to zigzag so Lycoris went one way and we went the other. We were really close so we started to throw things to slow it down. It finally stopped and we thought we got it, but then it threw a rock down instead. It was a perfect shot right on the back of the head. Brain was smashed in and before I could attack, the person dashed off. Lycoris lost it, too, and found us back here."

Ares shakes his head and stares at the bloody body. The rock that was thrown was huge, larger even than my hand. It is amazing that she held that and still managed to jump around. Ares grabs onto the shoulder so that he could see Leeum's pale dead face before he leaves.

"One less for us to kill," Lycoris mutters, picking up the mace that Leeum took as his weapon. The Two boy stares at the body for a moment, not saying anything. Just a couple hours ago, they were laughing at each other.

"Let's keep going," Ares says, turning away from the District Four boy to look at Lycoris. "And leave the mace."

"Why?" he asks. "It's a good weapon." He swings it a couple of times, dropping his ax to the floor.

"You can't carry two," Ares replies simply. "Just leave it with Leeum."

"But that's stupid! It's not like he's going to use it."

"Just leave the weapon, damn it!" The arena is dead silent then and I can feel the intensity seep through the screen. Even Theseus is quiet. When the District One boy does not move, Ares stalks toward him, snatches the mace from his hand, and places it back in Leeum's. "Fighters have to die with their weapons in their hand."

"He did even fight," Lycoris counters. "His brain was smooshed in by a rock that he was too stupid to see coming."

"Same difference," mutters Ares. He sighs and wipes the dirt off of his pants. "Now let's go." Allyn turns away first and Lycoris begrudgingly follows her. Ares walks away from the body without even a second glance.

"You handled that well, boy," Theseus comments. "Very good job. Still the leader, even after your strongest follower is dead. Very good, son. Next time, do not let Lycoris get under your skin. If he won't do what you ask the first time, make him." He shakes his head and purses his lips. "Well look who finally made it to the swamp."

Alana and Dustyn, that's who. The duo stomps through the thick brown muck, their sleeves pressed as far as they could go up their arms and sweat building along their brows. Dustyn shields his eyes from the intense sun that does not lighten the perspiration along his back. Alana is in a similar state, except her platinum blond hair sticks to cheeks and neck like leeches trying to get to the blood. They pass a water bottle in between them, focusing on keeping their energy intact.

"God it's hot here and incredibly cold over there!" Alana cries wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. "The Gamemakers just love to screw with us."

"I'd be alright with said screwing if they would send rain or maybe a really pretty girl," Dustyn mumbles. Alana glares at him. "What? It was a joke." Rolling her eyes at him, she focuses on the thick shrubs and tall grass they have to trek through.

Less than five minutes later, something stirs. Both tributes stop and glance around, searching for some sign of life. The swamp is still for a moment before the grass moves around.

"There," whispers Dustyn. A few yards away is Weft, walking around and searching for water. He isn't talking for once, but I think I can hear him humming.

He is too far for Dustyn to get with his whip, leaving Alana to get him with her spear. She holds it in her hand and pulls it back, ready for take off. But then she pauses. Edgar said he had six children, Alana being the oldest. When he left, he told her to take care of them, and that she was responsible for them from now on. I wonder if any of his children looked like Weft.

Her moment of hesitation is enough for the small boy to realize someone was watching him. He sees Dustyn and Alana and dashes away. The duo run after him, though it is hard to follow when you are getting hit by something every step you take.

"I see him! Over there, Alana!" Dustyn points to the figure on the floor, slumped as if he had fallen and couldn't get up.

"Wait a second," Theseus says. "That doesn't look right." The District Ten boy gets his whip ready to strike, but not before the figure turns around and snaps at him.

I jump. It wasn't Weft, but one of the Gamemakers' mutts. It is an alligator, small, but still deadly I'm sure. The creature grabs onto Dustyn's leg, shaking him from side to side and slowly pulling him toward a deep pond. He screams on top of his lungs and tries to hit him with his whip. The animal's skin shields him from every blow (god I wish I had stuff like that).

Alana jumps to help him, throwing the spear right in between its shoulder and its head. The spear finds its mark and the beast cries out, but it doesn't stop it from throwing around Dustyn. All she has left is her knife. She takes it in hand and runs to the alligator, screaming her war cry. When she is only a few feet away, she throws the knife, digging itself into the creature's eye. It releases Dustyn then and begins to charge at Alana. With no weapon, she runs away, hoping to find something to kill the animal with.

Just before it snapped at the girl, Dustyn, having painfully dragged himself after the animal, pulls the spear out from its arm and forces it through the beast's head. It dies without a single sound. He slumps against the animal, clenching his leg.

"Oh god! Oh god!" he cries as he looks at the wound. His thigh looks as though it had gone through a meat processor. Blood litters his clothing, and the large holes in which the alligator crushed his teeth into had shredded his skin to a degree that the bone was easily tangible. A chunk of skin hangs off to the side, barely hanging on. Mud and other remnants clung around the raw skin from when he dragged himself. It is an ugly sight and makes me a little uneasy.

"Thanks for that," Alana mutters as she inspects the injury with tender hands. Dustyn nods and winces. "Come on, we have to go back."

"What about the kid?" he asks halfheartedly.

"As if I'm going to take on three tributes by myself!" He cracks a smile which quickly disappears as she helps him to his feet. She puts his arm over her shoulder and waits as he rests most of his weight on his right leg. Very slowly, they walk back to their base.

"Holy shit that was intense," Theseus mutters. "Maybe I was wrong about that kid. He's got guts at least. Too bad the Careers would never let him live now that he's practically no help to them." I narrow my eyes at the mentor. It is true, but it doesn't mean that I like it. He saved Alana and she will simply turn a blind eye as she lets Lycoris or one of the others kill him. That is why I hate District Two.

Feeling that I have had enough of this district's stupidity, I slide toward the door, opening and closing it so quietly that even Cal wouldn't realize that I have left.

The lobby is still empty and I am actually pleased to find it this way. I settle down on one of the chairs tentatively, glancing at the doors ever few seconds to make sure no one is watching. I wonder how Cal manages to stay so relaxed when she does something that could potentially lead her to being whipped. It makes a little sense because she never actually felt the pain, but still.

I glance at the television to get my mind off of things. Nothing really appears to be happening, but then I saw it. It was small at first and it didn't seem too threatening, but it quickly picked up speed and it swallowed everything in its path. The white snow from the tops of the mountain that seemingly came from no where rolled down at an amazing pace. The tributes will hardly have enough time to run.

Otillie is the first to meet the avalanche. She runs with her small amount of supplies in her hands, trying to grab onto a tree. She quickly dives behind a large tree trunk and covers her head just as the roaring white takes over her. But the cannon does not sound. She is still alive. Peri meets a similar fate. She nearly makes it to the bottom, but she loses her balance and stumbles a little. With a sharp cry, she falls to the floor and is taken by the snow. The cannon does not sound for her either.

Everyone else manages to make it safely. Galena is still in the safety of her treetops and Titania was already away from the mountain after she heard the Careers chasing after Galena. She dashes away from the mountain as quickly as possible, probably in search of a new place to stay.

The Careers are already walking back, cold and bitter about not really killing anyone. Lycoris is the one who is really upset. He walks away from Allyn and Ares, not wanting to deal with them. Actually, he walks very close to where...

Titania sees him a moment too late. He swings his ax and before she could move out of the way, it slices deep into her shoulder. She grits her teeth, but does not cry out. Then she runs away. Lycoris goes after her, easily catching up with his long legs and greater endurance. She knows that if she doesn't do something, she could very well die.

So she stops abruptly and throws some of the iodine in the small bottle in his eyes. He drops his weapon instinctively and clenches his stinging eyes just long enough for Titania to run back into the shelter of the trees. By the time Lycoris opens his eyes again, he can't see her. He yells and growls angrily, cutting the tops of the grass with his ax. It seems to be the only thing he can kill as of right now. When he sees Dustyn, I have no doubt that he will kill him immediately. I hope Alana has enough guts to defend him.

I clench my stomach and stand. I don't want to watch anymore. At least for a while anyway. I decide to walk inside of the tunnels and see if I can find my own little place to hide, like Cal's apartment.

The shit hole is far from silent as the echo from the Transfer bounces along the walls. It is always the busiest during the Games. I stuff my hands in my pockets. I should have brought Isolde or Swarley with me. At least then I would be preoccupied.

A hand rests on my shoulder and I turn around, pleased to find Master Rhys instead of a bored Peacekeeper. I smile at him and he reciprocates it.

"Out for a walk?" he asks simply. I shrug. "Mind if I join you?" I shake my head as we walk silently through the tunnels.

I can hear a distant drop of water and the smell becomes too pungent and sharp for my sensitive nose. We must be approaching the sewers. I hadn't meant to go this way, which means Master Rhys must have led us here. Why? I have no idea.

"No Avox in their right mind would voluntarily come this way," he tells me, as if reading my mind. I nod and notice how he walks to a small door. It is much smaller than the ones that lead upstairs, so I can only assume that it is an old supply area or maybe an Avox made it years ago to get away.

Master Rhys pulls out a key from his pocket and unlocks the door, opening it with a quick push. It groans against the cold cement and if it weren't for what he said only moments ago, I would have been sure that someone heard it. He gets down on all fours and crawls through. After glancing around to double check that no one is there, I follow him.

It is a small room that probably once belonged to the Head Peacekeeper before they moved their base to the Transfer. The ceiling is high, surprisingly so which makes my wonder why the door is so small. A single light bulb hangs from the ceiling, dancing softly as Master Rhys walks by. There is a bed that attaches to the wall, then an old wooden dresser that leans to the right. On top of that is a small television that has a crack in the corner. (Things easily found in the shit hole.) Other than that, the room has no other objects.

It is stuffy in here, despite the air vent in the very top corner. Master Rhys catches my change in breathing and pulls out an old fan from the dresser and plugs it into a small outlet. It cool the air almost immediately. I nod gratefully and he smiles, settling on the bed where his book is opened to a random page.

I sit down on the floor and notice the walls. Master Rhys has always been a gifted artist, which many believe is what got him here in the first place. He still paints, getting the supplies by bartering with Peacekeepers and District citizens alike.

At our base, every inch of wall is covered with one of his masterpieces. He paints different things: trees, the Capitol buildings, people he meets, lost loved ones, and sceneries of places that I have never seen before. It calms the newer Avoxes and amazes the others. For the longer veterans, it supplies us with a sense of consistency.

The painting in this room is very different. It is one very long portrait that wraps all around the room. It appears to be in a field, with the mountains in the background and little animals running around. He has a river running of in the distance and I can almost hear the sound of rushing water. He went so far as to paint the ceiling as well, getting the perfect color of a pure blue sky with a single cloud drifting in the wind. From where I stand, the light bulb covers the sun he had painted and I cover my eyes to try and see it. I close my eyes and for a moment, I could feel the soft summer wind dance along my cheeks and the warm, radiant sun warm my paled skin.

Master Rhys makes a sound and I look at him. "Took me years to finally get it right," he tells me.

"It feels as though it's real," I say, still in a daze.

"It is real. Somewhere in the world, this place exists. And one day, I will find it." I nod absentmindedly at his words and turn my attention back to the walls. The details are perfect. If I was smoking something, then I would probably run into the walls to try and get to the river.

"What exactly is this?" I ask him motioning to the entire room.

"A place of refuge and my future retirement home."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Retirement?"

"Sure. Plenty of Avoxes do it after a while. Most of the time after fifteen to twenty years of service. The tricky part is finding a place to stay afterward. I started my own search early." I glance around the room with a new clarity. Of course it is for that. Not all Avoxes die in their first ten years, and they have to stop working eventually.

"Are there a lot of these place around here?" I ask. He shrugs and folds the edge of the page before closing his book.

"I found a few when I first started looking, but they were too close to the Transfer for my likings. It may smell here sometimes, but it is as remote as one can get."

I nod and glance around. I wonder if I could find some place like this here. Cal could probably find one for me easy, but something about finding your own home makes me anxious to start looking. I motion to the television. "Does it actually work?"

He smiles and nods. "Sure does. Took me a while to find one that does. I was lucky enough to have a friend who fixes televisions. Besides you, she is the only one who knows about this place." He stands and goes to the little box to turn it on. Before I can tell him to stop, it comes to life and shows a slightly fuzzy picture of the Hunger Games. The crack effects the picture, but I don't really mind it.

"See. Practically new." I know he means this in a sarcastic way, but I glance at his smirk just to be sure.

I stand to turn it off (after all if I wanted to watch the Games I would have stayed in the Hideaway) when a cannon goes off. My eyes are suddenly glued to the screen, searching crazily to see who died. A hovercraft goes to mountain and pulls a body out from the snow. The camera flashes to the face, but the crack in the screen covers it. I clench my fist and turn to Master Rhys.

"Yeah, it is perfect." And even I can't help cracking a grin.

**A.N. Wow, this one is pretty long. Pretty amazing if you ask me, since I finished this in close to two days. I hope you guys liked the action, and if I was a little too descriptive, I apologize. Please tell me what you think, because I work better and faster when I have something to go back on.**

**A special thanks to** spindleberried **for getting me out of my writing slump with her review. Much appreciated my friend!**

**A Moment of Silence for**  
Leeum Kafsger  
And "Nameless-Tribute-that-will-be-named-in-the-next-chapter"

*Finz*


	11. Isn't She Lovely

Isn't She Lovely

As much as I wanted to run back to the Hideaway, I know that I have to check on Beatrice. Two days of just rest and my sedatives have done her good. Most of the bruises are starting to heal, though the discoloration is still horribly evident. In a couple weeks, she should physically be okay. Mentally, however isn't as promising. I hear her thrashing and screaming in the night, moving her lips to make words that she can never say. It hurts me more than anyone could ever know. Lovely was gentle, quiet, motherly. She didn't deserve what was given to her.

She is asleep when I return and I am grateful. She looks at me with sad, but hopeful eyes because she thinks that even though she was attacked, the people who done so were long gone. It takes everything inside me to not tell her the truth. Cal is right about one thing. Her healing would take much longer if she knew that they were still around. But then again, after she was taken advantage of in the worst possible way, wouldn't it be best to show her that she still has our trust?

I gingerly check her wounds, making sure that everything is in order. I reapply a bandage on a deep gash on her side then get a hot wash cloth and place it on her bruises. She winces at the contact, but does not wake. After a few minutes I replace it with a cool one. I get a few of my essential oils and create a concoction of lavender, almond oil, and peppermint oil. I apply it to each bruise then cover it with a thin bandage.

Back home, we would have plenty of abused women and children come by. My parents and Nina never let me near them because they thought I would say something stupid or thoughtless (which now that I think about, I probably would have).

There was one time, though, when Mom and Dad were gone and Nina had me and Nephele help her with a young mother and her child. I only remember this because I recall how calm Nina was. She was very gentle and told the woman everything we were doing to them. While she was treating her, she would talk about different stories of when we were still very young and the time when I almost put the house on fire. The mother even laughed at me as she described how angry my Dad was. Nina never spoke about how bad the bruise looked or made a weird face when an infection was a nasty color. She knew what she was doing. Even now as I treat Beatrice, I imagine her expert hands gingerly treating Lovely and telling the stories of my childhood.

Beatrice's hand slides on top of mine and I glance at her wide brown eyes. She smiles weakly at me and squeezes my hand. I reciprocate her grin and push a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"You feeling okay?" I ask her. She nods and closes her eyes for a moment.

"Tired," she fingerspells with trembling hands. It is a motion I don't think will ever leave her.

"Understandable," I tell her. "Master Rhys is very worried about you. I think he wants to bring you somewhere more comfortable to heal."

"I am fine here," she says. I rub the back of her hand with my palm and glance away.

"Cal found an old apartment north from here. The neighbors are old and care little about what happens around them. It would be safe and contented." (The truth about this apartment: it used to belong to Master Rhys's family. Being the only child, he technically still owns it, under his real name Darius Carilor. Since he is here under the pseudonym Rhys Pastel, he was allowed to keep the estate. He said he would be willing to use it as a hospital, but we hardly ever have an injury and the others are too afraid to go upstairs. Beatrice would be the first one in the house in years.)

"I am fine here," she repeats.

"Cal is bringing you there later today. And you know Calanthe; she will do it with or without your knowledge." She chuckles a little and nods, her eyes getting droopy. I gently push her eyelids shut as she smiles at me.

"Sing," she says. I want to say no, mainly because I want to know what happened in the arena, but I don't have the heart to tell her so.

I whistle a soft song for her. It is a lullaby that my mom would sing to get us to go to sleep. It was a slow tune that vaguely reminded me of the walls of Master Rhys's hut. I remember the feeling of the breeze and the smell of the fresh air and it is enough to bring a smile on my face. Beatrice hums along, her own tone harmonizing with mine. I pet her hair and continue to sing until her eyes slowly closed.

Someone slapped a hand on my back and I stifled a groan. Whoever this idiot was, they hit me right on the tender skin from my whippings some days ago. I turn around and notice that the hand belongs to Swarley. How typical.

"Thanks a lot Swarles," I say through small slits. He narrows his eyes then glances at my back, realizing what he did.

"Oh god, I am so sorry." He takes a step back and places his hands out in front of him.

"Yeah sure," I say releasing a groan. I move my shoulder blades a little to test the stinging skin before relaxing again. "I thought you were working," I tell him.

"The sun's gone down in the arena so we are off our shift."

"Where's Isolde?"

"Talking with Cal outside. We ran into her earlier and thought she could teach Blue some new signs." The little green monster sits on my shoulder again, playing with my emotions as I glare at the floor. I wonder if my kiss will effect how she learns from me.

"You want to hang out?" I ask abruptly. "You know; just me and you?" He shrugs.

"Why not?" After a small pause, he gives me a sly smile. "What are you planning on doing on our date? Do we have to keep our newfound relationship a secret from Blue?" he adds with faux innocent eyes.

"We're going to Master Rhys's house," I tell him through narrowed eyes, "and you don't always have to be an ass you know."

"Honestly Fire, I thought you knew me better by now." He stands and looks at Beatrice with sad eyes. "Is she okay?"

"She will be eventually. I figure after everything starts to go back to normal, she'll adapt."

He raises an eyebrow at me. "Do you really think that?" I sigh and glance back at her disfigured face. The woman I treated with Nina was killed a few months later and her child was sent to the community home. I remember hearing how the child had many emotional issues now that he grew up.

Without turned back to look at Swarley, I snap my fingers, "No."

* * *

Master Rhys's estate is huge. I had known his parents were rich, but I had never realized how wealthy they really were. There are rooms inside of rooms, areas with no actual purpose, and I count twelve televisions on the first floor alone. His parents' clothing is still inside of their closets and Swarley and I change out of our work clothes and into Master Rhys's old ones in order to remain conspicuous if someone were to come in. I laugh at how ridiculous we look.

"I never knew he was such a Capitol kid. I mean you look at him now and you would never expect this from him," I say throwing a feather boa behind me.

"What can I say? I understand where he's coming from," Swarley replies picking up a top hat to put on his head. "I hated dressing up personally, but it was all I knew. It was how we show our personality; even if we do look stupid in the process."

"I just don't get it," I shrug.

"Neither do I really. All I know is that it was fun to mess up their clothes on a windy day," he replies with a smirk.

We walk down stairs in Master Rhys's clothes and sit on a fluffy loveseat that sinks us inside the minute we sit down. Swarley makes a sound and pulls himself up before helping me.

"The highlights are on if you want to watch," he says. The fire I put aside earlier is burning again as I remember the faceless tribute from the snow. I need to know who died.

"Yeah that would be cool." Swarley turns on the television and plops back into the couch.

"Something about watching the highlights makes me want chocolate. Do you want anything from the kitchen?" Swarley asks getting up again. (I partially wonder how he could get up from these fluffy traps so easily.) I shake my head and he disappears into the house.

Caesar is on the screen of the television talking about some of the tributes and who he thinks will win. He interviews some of the mentors and Gamemakers and random Capitol citizens saying who they want to win. In the top left corner is the small screen of the arena that takes over the screen the minute something interesting happens.

"And now, here are the best of day two," Caesar says.

They replay the events of the morning with Dustyn and the Careers as well as glimpses from when Jersey scouted out the tributes. The chase with Galena appears next. I finally see exactly what happened with Leeum and it is a lot harder to digest when I see the rock fly from the tree and bury itself in his skull. The screen changes before Ares appears. The next clip is with Alana and Dustyn's battle with the alligator and then the avalanche succeeds it.

Swarley returns with a bowl of popcorn that has chocolate syrup on top of it. I narrow my eyes at the snack as he grabs a handful and stuffs it in his mouth. "You want some?" he signs with sticky hands. I shake my head and he shrugs, taking another handful.

The next part is not what I had expected. I thought they were going to show the next death, but then they go back to the Career Island where Allyn, Ares, and Lycoris just returned. Dustyn and Alana were already there, walking around camp to get a fire going. I look closely at the screen and notice the tourniquet and splint wrapped around his leg. He winced with every step, had a horrible limp, and didn't lean on his bad leg for more than a half of a second, but he was still moving and that was all that counted.

"You get them?" Ares asked as he went to the food boxes to get something to eat.

"We ran into a complication," Alana replied simply. She focused on keeping her eyes away from Dustyn in hopes that they wouldn't notice his leg.

"What's up with you?" Lycoris asked pointing at his splint with the ax. Dustyn paled immediately as he turned toward the new arrivals.

"Nothing," he said in a surprisingly steady voice. "A mutt attacked us while we were at the swamp. It's nothing too bad." Lycoris raised an eyebrow and pressed on his bad leg. He hid his wince well, but the small traces were still there. Luckily, they were too small for the District One boy to see. Lycoris narrowed his eyes and took a step back.

"I think we should kill him anyway," he said with his arms crossed.

"There's no reason for that," Ares said. "It's just an injury."

Lycoris wasn't convinced. He tossed his ax to the side and kicked Dustyn's bad leg. He gave a suppressed grunt and fell to the floor, his hands clenched around his leg.

"What the hell!" Alana cried as she went to help him. Lycoris grabbed onto her arm and tugged her away.

"Why'd you jump to his aid if it was a minor injury?" That left both tributes quiet and Lycoris lifted his head a little higher. "I bet you can't even get up by yourself." Dustyn tried, he really did. The pain he tried to hide was written plainly on his face as he tried to put weight on his bad leg, but the pressure seemed too much for him. He gave up with a frustrated cry.

Lycoris picked up his ax, and swung it in the air a few times before grinning sadistically at the poor boy. Dustyn looked desperately at Alana, but she refused to meet his gaze. He was on his own on this one.

Just as he prepared to strike down the injured kid, Dustyn yelled, "There's a tribute I didn't tell you about!"

"Whoa, whoa! Wait!" Ares said steeping in front of Lycoris. He almost didn't stop the path of his weapon, but the Career leader grabbed onto his wrist and threw it to the side before it could come into contact with him. After ignoring a glare from Lycoris, he turned toward the Ten boy. "What did you leave out?" His tone was rough, menacing almost, as if he was genuinely angry that a tribute was willing to withhold information to save himself.

"Nell. The District Six girl. She's hiding away somewhere that no one could find her. Not without my help." It was a good point, if only he knew that Jersey knew where she was as well and odds are he would kill her before the Careers needed to search for her. As of right now, however, she was still a mystery and Ares knew that.

"Big deal," Allyn said with a flick of her wrist. "We could probably find her."

"You sure?" Dustyn asked with a little more certainty now that his life wasn't in immediate danger. "This is a big arena after all."

"The Gamemakers-" Lycoris started, but Dustyn interrupted him.

"You can't count on them to find the tributes for you. They might make you find just because you don't know where she is."

All eyes jumped to Ares then because he was the one who was to decide (though I notice Lycoris was a little reluctant to do so). "We'll give you a couple of days," he said after a moment. "By then you will either be better enough to lead us to the girl or you're left in Lycoris's hands."

"Damn," Swarley says licking his fingers clean of the chocolate. "If I were there, I'd probably just kill them all and save me some time. That's what that Two kid should do. Just let them all kill each other." I roll my eyes at him and lean back in my seat. I really just want to know who died.

Then they flash it to the snow. I narrow my eyes at the screen, noticing that nothing really is going on. But then I see it; a small little finger peeking out from the white abyss. I recall there being two girls in the snow. One survived and the other must have died. The finger eventually became a hand and then an arm, Finally, I see the long red hair that reminded me of Nina only a few days before.

Otillie pulled herself through the hole she made and finally relaxed against the trunk of the tree that she was by. She panted heavily and checked around herself to make sure that she still had her supplies. After a moment, she forced herself to her feet and began to walk down the mountain side. She made sure her steps were slow and hardly more than a few inches away from each other. And then she stopped.

Less than a few yards away was a bright red hand with pale white fingertips. It was clawing at the snow, like her own hand was doing a few minutes before, only this hand was not as successful in moving the white mass. Otillie stared at the hand, not moving or anything. She simply stared. Her hand twitches with the one in the snow as it begins to turn white as well. She stuffed her hands under her armpit to keep them warm, but that was the only movement she made.

Then she walked away. After taking less than six steps, the cannon fired and the hand fell still. Otillie turned around and glanced at the pale hand as the hovercraft flew to her. A claw shoots from the bottom and clings onto the ice cold body of Peri Kale.

I feel bad for the girl. She was so keen on seeing that Lycoris died by her own hand, only to be taken down by an avalanche.

The camera cuts from the snow to go to Nell Dogwood at her little lake. She drank the water easily, not even worrying about what may be inside of it. She has her water purifier tablets, but since she doesn't have any water containers, they lie uselessly beside her. She didn't seem to care though.

Suddenly she began to laugh. It wasn't a soft kind of laughter either, it was the kind of laugh you get when you laugh at someone else's laugh or when someone falls down and flips over in the process. It is a thick addictive type that makes me smile and puzzled at the same time. Being in the arena is no funnier than me becoming an Avox, so why is she laughing? Then she took a big breath to drink the water.

The water. The Gamemakers must have put something in it. It was probably something that couldn't even be cleaned from the tablets. She must not have known and now she was paying the price. She continued to laugh uncontrollably until she began to stand.

That was when she must have sensed something was wrong. She grabbed the tablets and the small ball of twine and ran as fast as she could (which wasn't very fast because she was still lightheaded and was tripping over herself) out of the maze.

She was panting and sweating as she ran around helplessly. The maze was very straightforward and not too difficult, but she had the hardest time weaving her way through. When she finally stumbled into the tall grass, she fell into a small ditch. She leaned against the wall of the trench to catch her breath.

The camera then jumped to Jersey, who held his branch and knife in hand. He had a determined look on his face as he passed where Nell ran seconds ago. He goes straight into the maze, prepared to kill the tribute that just left.

"Hey Fire," Swarley said tossing the now empty bowl of popcorn to the side. I want to ignore him and continue watching, but I glance his way anyway. "I've got something to tell you." His face is clear of any type of grin or happiness, which is rare on the younger boy. It means that he's serious. I fully face him now and nod for him to continue.

"Well, I was—Whoa what the hell?" My eyebrows furrow together and I glance in the direction of his eyes.

The screen jumped from the recaps to the live feed that was playing in the corner. It shows the Career clan. They were asleep, except for Lycoris who stood watch on the other side of the island (he isn't really though because he is torturing the fish in the water) and Allyn who walks silently around camp. She pauses in front of her weapon and picks up the knife before stalking toward where Ares is sleeping. A small smirk plays on her face as she towers over him.

As if by fate, Alana wakes silently, as if sensing something was going on. What she sees is Allyn holding a knife over her district partner. Before the District One girl could strike, she jumps out of her sleeping bag and lunges toward the other girl. Allyn yelps as Alana tackles her down, waking Ares and alerting Lycoris in the process.

Allyn stabs Alana in her stomach as she tries to wrestle the weapon out of her hands. Edgar's daughter hardly makes a sound as she knees the smaller girl and pushes her away. Just as Allyn was about to attack her again, Lycoris digs his ax into her chest. Her cannon fires simultaneously.

All of the Careers pant for a while: Alana because she was stabbed; Ares because he almost died, Lycoris because he was high from the adrenaline rush; and Dustyn because he was probably in pain. The ax is back in Lycoris's hands by the time the hovercraft silently takes her body away.

Ares goes to the first aid box and grabs a gauze for her wound. He glances at everything inside blankly, not too sure what to use for this type of wound. Dustyn forces himself up and goes to his side, grabbing a bandage and a couple alcohol wipe packets. He goes to Alana's side and gently cleans the wound with Allyn's abandoned sleeping bag. When it is clear that the bleeding is not stopping, a little silver parachute drops down with a sewing kit attached.

"What the hell is that supposed to do?" Lycoris asks.

"Stitches is my guess," Ares mumbles as he glances at Dustyn's surprisingly steady hands.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Alana questions as she eyes the needle.

"Sure. I had to take care of our milking farm and there was always a surprising amount of injuries whenever the neighbors' dogs broke out." He patches her up easily and smiles at his own handy work. "Good as new," he mutters with a smile. Alana glances at the patched up skin with a scowl. It was the second time he helped her out of a sticky situation and she did little else for him.

I glance toward Swarley, who still has his eyes glued to the screen. I tap his shoulder and he jumps a little before glancing at me. "What were you saying?"

He nods to himself and takes several deep breaths before talking. "I want you to be happy, you know, but there are some things that you can't have that you want." I narrow my eyes at him.

"Where are you going with this?"

He looks away from me, his eyes finding an interesting dot on the carpet. "I think you should break up with Isolde."

I don't know what to say really. What really troubles me is why. Why would he possibly want me to break up with her? We've been friends for five years and we have always said that we would find our own girls one day, so why is he being an ass now. Then I remember what Calanthe told me earlier. "Cal told me about your bet."

He rolls his eyes at me. "This has nothing to do with that. You have to think about her. I mean, Avoxes have a hard enough time without the relationships. With them is even harder. Everyone knows that."

"She doesn't." And she doesn't need to.

His eyes turn away from me again, and I know what he says before he even said it. "I told her." If he could speak, the words would have been mumbled.

"You what!"

He sighs and looks at me with a little more determination. "I told her. I knew you wouldn't do it. She had to know the truth. I mean, have you even told her how you became an Avox."

The question catches me off guard. Yes, how I became an Avox has a lot to do with how I am treated here, but it should have nothing to do with Isolde. Not the full story anyway. "She knows I killed a Peacekeeper. Everyone does."

"But the real story, I mean; what actually happened." I shrug it off.

"I'll tell her when she knows the signs better."

Swarley seems to want to take that answer, but continues anyway. "She should know what really happened, especially if you guys get serious. Can you imagine what the Peacekeepers will do to her when they kind out? If you don't tell her, then she'll think that she's getting picked on because of your stupidity." He has a point which is a low blow for me. Swarley is never right and he's never serious. Something is wrong with the world if he is both things at one time.

"I can't do it. Not yet."

He nods and places a hand on my back. "I get it, just don't wait too long."

I reciprocate his nod and smile. "You know what would have been funny? If Edgar's daughter beat the shit out of that other girl."

Swarley laughs his joyous bellow. "Yeah and then it would have turned into a girl fight and they would have wrestled in the lake." We joke about how that fantasy would have turned out and it is as if we never had a serious conversation. And for right now, I'm okay with that.

**A.N. I hate how I ended this chapter, but I was stumped, so here you go.**

**I'm sorry for the very late update. My laptop is bitter because I ditched him for my iPod a couple weeks ago and he has been giving me problems ever since.**

**Any way, thanks for all of the amazing reviews you guys gave me! I loved them so much and you guys are awesome! I'm hoping to get the next one out by next week, but don't hold me to that. **

**A moment of silence for…**  
Peri Kale  
Allyn Bonnet

*Finz*


	12. Songs for the Sick

Songs for the Sick

I need yarrow. That is the only reason why I am standing out in the cold night of the Capitol, the moon being my only friend right now. Another attack on an Avox girl in the west wing was too severe for me to ignore. Cal woke me up early to examine her. She bleeds everywhere, has a horrible fever, and cannot stop shaking. The yarrow is the only thing I could think of to heal two of the three. The problem is it works best when freshly picked and the only fresh grown yarrow in the city is in the President's private garden.

Cal supplied me with a key (I have no idea how she gets these things) and told me that the easiest way to get through is not through the Avox opening, but through the west gate because the Peacekeepers there are always sleeping. She claims that if I go through the actual house, I will either be mistaken for a house Avox and be put to work immediately or the many Peacekeepers inside will recognize me.

I wanted to ask her how she could have possibly known this, but the answer didn't seem very important at the time. Now, as I lean closely to the wall around the President's Mansion, all I can think about is how she knows this.

The most reasonable one is that she is from the Capitol, but she doesn't fit. Capitol Avoxes are easy to identify because of the way they initially look and act when becoming an Avox. Cal looked completely normal and adapted too quickly for her to be a spoiled Capitol kid. She could have figured it out from walking around the building a lot, but even the dumbest of Peacekeepers would notice the same girl walking by every day. Maybe she had met someone in the Capitol who told her, but that seems a stretch too. The Avox lovers in the Capitol are all but nonexistent. Not only that but they would have almost no way of communicating. Only Master Rhys has a notepad and he has it with him at all times.

As I dwell on this mystery, I find myself getting closer to where the gate is. I adjust the coat I borrowed from Master Rhys and take a deep breath. The worst I can get from this is a whipping, and maybe a little torture, but they won't kill me. Though, considering the amount of torture they would give me, I'm not sure if that is better than dying.

My steps, while not as quiet as Cal's, are still near silent and any Capitol citizen would mistake them for the wind. Of course, it would be difficult to miss the strange guy walking around, but there is little I can do about that.

The metal gate appears to my left and the first Peacekeeper is there as well. I hide my vibrant red hair under the hood of the coat and take a deep breath. As I inch closer, I notice that the man is leaning heavily against the wall and the whip is secure at his hip. He must be used to standing around, doing nothing.

I stick to the shadow against the wall and narrow my eyes at the man. I watch his chest as it rises and falls rhythmically and I try to count the seconds between each breath. When I am sure the breathing is that of a sleeper, I walk away from the wall and across the small grassy road. The other Peacekeeper sits on the floor with her legs tucked underneath her. Her head leans back against the wall, her face looking up at the stars.

Step by step I slowly go toward the gate, a horrible knot itching at my stomach as I pass the dormant Peacekeepers. The gate is opened a little, just enough room for me to slide myself through. It all seems too perfect, too easy. And then she begins to stir and I freak out and stumble against the gate making it screech a quick sudden noise.

Both guards jerk awake and I dash back into the shadows of a tree. The standing Peacekeeper glances around and assures the other that no one is around before resting again. I don't dare move again until both chests move deeply.

I can see the greenhouse across the courtyard. It seems so close, but then I notice the empty land from my hiding spot to my destination. The wall could only conceal me for so long and when I had to slip into the moonlight, I would be easily recognizable. I consider running back now while I still have a chance, but the image of that poor woman floods my mind and for a brief second I imagine that it was Isolde or Cal or even one of my sisters in that position. The idea is enough to get me walking.

My fears are heightened past the point of my control as every shadow turns into a creature or Peacekeeper and every little noise is the sound of the whip against my back. I know I am being ridiculous, but I can't help it. I know that there is little else that they could do to me after gutting out my tongue, but the thought of dying is enough to keep my bravery down. After all, what happens after you die? Is there a better place or do you burn for the rest.

I pause and breathe for a moment to clear my mind. I have to relax. If I am tense, my movements get sloppy and I won't be able to get the yarrow and the Avox girl will die. Her blood will be on my hands, literally. My body loosens up and I continue, my steps quieted once again. I try to keep my mind clear and focus only on what I am doing, but I've never been good at that.

My mind begins to wander to the arena this time. What are they doing in there? Are the Careers going to fail now that Allyn is dead? Will Dmitri last another day? Better yet, when will Jersey finally get to kill someone? I want to see that. The guy is twisted and I can't wait until he gets his hands on a tribute. Lycoris is a force to be reckoned with, sure, but Jersey has a perverse calmness and wisdom that creeps me out. Intelligence beat brute force in my book.

I wonder what happened to Titania. She was stabbed by Lycoris and I didn't get to see what happened to her in the highlights. It was a deep wound, but I think she would be alright, granted if she properly cares for it. She would probably need yarrow for that too…

My mind jumps back to the task at hand as I see the greenhouse that is less than a few yards away. I check to make sure there are no guards then walk into the dim moonlight. I force myself to remain calm, though my hand shakes as I pull the key out of my pocket.

The door of the greenhouse opens with a small click and I open the door quietly. The pure smell of everything inside reminds me of our garden back home. The greenhouse was strictly for Nina and my parents, but they trusted me enough to care for the garden. It smelled like the freshness of morning mixed in with the sweetness of lemons (we grew a lot of lemon balm).

I eye all of the different plants around me: honeysuckle, lemon balm, opium poppy, dovefoot, et cetra. There are more plants here than I have ever seen in our own greenhouse, but I doubt the people growing them here are aware of its real uses.

I spy the yarrow in the back corner. It is in three large pots and has at least twelve separate stems in total. I walk to the plant and gently pick the leaves and aerial parts off of the yarrow. I stuff them into a small bag that I brought then took a couple of peppermint leaves for Cal as well. Better I get them for her than she try getting them again. (Oh maybe that's how she knows how to get here.) I tossed a leaf in my mouth and tasted the bitter flavor of the mint. I don't know why Calanthe likes this.

I feel a little better now that I actually have what I need. My steps, I notice, are a little noisier than they were before, but I don't care as much. After all, I could probably outrun any stupid Peacekeeper.

After I lock the door to the greenhouse, I put the key and bag inside of my pocket. I consider going back to the shit hole through the Avox door inside of the mansion instead of backtracking through the gate. It is starting to get cold and Master Rhys's designer coat isn't doing much against the wind. Not to mention the closest open opening to the shit hole from the outside is on the main avenue, meaning I would have to go through the Transfer or I could run all the way to the other side of town to where Master Rhys lives. Neither looks very appealing. So I turn toward the glass door to the President's Mansion.

The warmth rolls toward me and I welcome it with open arms. It is never this warm in the shit hole (save for the summer days, but by then I'd rather it be freezing) and it seems strange to be in such a place. I almost shed my jacket, it is that warm.

I spy many Avoxes walking through the home. It is considered the highest of privileges to work in the President's Mansion and most of these Avoxes have rich family members to buy their way here. There was an Avox that came a couple months after Cal and me who had a head of red hair ten shades brighter than mine. He was hardly able to get the alphabet down when he was transferred to the President's Mansion. I couldn't sign very well back then, but I recall him saying, "I'm not staying long" all the time. I remember him being an ass to everyone and Cal pushed him onto the tracks as a train was coming. She claims to this day that it was an accident.

All of these Avoxes hold their heads high and they look down at me as I pass. My lack of cosmetics makes it obvious that I am not a Capitol citizen and the white tunic under the coat is the only clothing an Avox really has. I catch the eyes of a young woman with faded baby blue hair and a tray in her hands. She glowers at me and shoves me to the side as she goes to the kitchen. I spit at her back as she leaves (asshole).

I have no idea where I'm going, so I walk around the first floor a few times, all the while avoiding the Peacekeepers and any other officials who would yell at me. Finally I see an old looking door that must lead to the shit hole. Relieved to finally have an escape, I move swiftly past the Avoxes and officials and reach for the door knob.

Before I can open it, it flies forward, nearly knocking me over. I hear deep bellows of laughter as three Peacekeepers come inside. Unfortunately, one of them is the blond bastard that whipped me a few days ago. They keep moving and I think I might be able to pass them without them noticing. Then the blond bastard turns around and catches my red hair peaking out from my hood.

"Hey!" he cries and I don't even bother looking before pulling open the door and running inside of the shit hole.

As I feel my hood fall freely from my head, I can hear one of the Peacekeepers yell, "Let's get 'im!" And soon their steps join mine as I dash through the tunnels.

They are faster than most of the other Peacekeepers and are able to keep up with me. I glance over my shoulder many times and see the blond bastard leading the other two in their chase.

For a moment, it reminds me of the old days when I was caught stealing from the food cart or got in a fight with Piper and the Peacekeepers would chase me through the streets of my district. I laugh a little at the memory as I recall the rush of almost getting caught, of narrowly escaping everything they threw at me. I was invincible back then. And in a way, I still am.

That is when I feel the metal tip of a whip dig into my shoulder (how ironic). I grit my teeth and try not to look at my left shoulder, already knowing that blood is pulsing out of the wound. I hear the cackle of the whip again, but I manage to miss its path of terror.

I know what I am doing before it even processes in my mind. My legs stretch out a little longer to I could stomp on top of the pod. I hold my breath and turn into the closest tunnel, the toxic fumes stinging my eyes. I can hear the blond bastard and his friends coughing and yelling. I hide in my tunnel and peek out from the side. By the time the clouds of poison clear, the Peacekeepers are gone.

And I can't stop laughing. Seven years of being an Avox and I can still outrun and outsmart the Peacekeepers. It probably isn't even that funny, but I don't care. Those idiots can't even get past a pod without freaking out.

Once my laughter subsides, I stand and begin to walk toward the western wing.

* * *

"You couldn't go upstairs for ten minutes without getting caught, could you?" Cal mocked as I arrived at the cold abandoned wine cellar.

I roll my eyes at her and pull out the peppermint. She swipes it from my hands and stuffs one in her mouth. She signs "thank you" to me and points to my patient with her chin.

The girl's name is Zilpah; that much Cal got from a stick and dirt. She said she found her sobbing next to a bomb pod, probably debating whether to end her life or not. The cellar was the closest she could get the girl before she collapsed. She is not an Avox I've seen before, so her base must be close by. Seeing as she doesn't know the language, it would be difficult to ask her.

She is huddled in the corner, whimpering and bringing her knees to her chest to cover up her body. Her arms are practically purple and her lip and left eye is swollen. What really had me concerned were the dislocated fingers and the gashes on her back that refuse to stop bleeding. Cal brought her a long shirt or something, because she was still nude when I first inspected her.

I walk cautiously to her and hold out my hand. She stares at it and then glances up at me. With only one candle with us, I know she can't see much. I reach for her palm, but she retreats quickly. I take a step back and breathe.

I point to myself a couple of times then I roughly made the letters H-E-L-P with my fingers so she could read it. Then I point to her. She nods slowly and doesn't retreat into the wall when I step toward her again.

I examine her fingers and notice that four of them are dislocated. Putting them back will be very painful, but necessary. I take her wrist in my hand and pull back the bones to put them into place. Her cries echoes against the bare walls and her tears slide endlessly down her cheeks.

Motioning her to lie on her back, I pull out the yarrow. I turn toward Cal and ask, "Do you have the things I needed?"

She nods and picks up a bag on the other side of the room. "Ignatia and bandages straight from the doctors." She hands the bag to me with her eyebrows furrowed. "What's the ignatia for?"

"Depression," I tell her as I take the full bottle out of the bag. "I figured Beatrice would do good by it too." I go toward Zilpah and put the bottle to her lips. She drinks a little of it before I put it aside and turn my attention back to her back.

As I apply the yarrow, I begin to whistle. Sure I can't talk her through what I am doing like what Nina did, but at least I can give her some kind of distraction. Cal whistles with me as well, though she has close to no sense of rhythm and ruins what I'm doing. I narrow my eyes at her, but she simply whistles louder. I bandage her back then place cool compresses on her bruises.

"You should start your own hospital with the Avoxes," Cal tells me. I glance at her then shake my head. "Why not?"

"We hardly ever have serious injuries. Whippings are always around as well as other forms of punishment, but the Masters already know how to treat that."

"Not all of them do. Actually only half probably do." I narrow my eyes at her. Where is she going with this?

"I wouldn't have the resources either," I add.

"Please," she says with a flick of her wrist. "I can get that easy. I do all the time."

"Cal." The thought of having my own hospital isn't bad, but it's too close to home. If I were to have one, I would only think of my sisters and while I do so now, I know it would be worse if it were around.

"What? You're just making up excuses." Lying to Cal is like trying to say the sky is green, so I don't respond to the statement.

"I'm not even that good." She rolls her eyes at me.

"Tell that to Beatrice."

"Beatrice had minor things, easily treatable."

"Not easy for some."

My eyebrows furrow together, my fists clenched a little. "Why are you so adamant about this?" My hands, I notice, are rougher and the movements are straighter than normal.

"Because you're good at it." She takes a step away from me and pulls out another peppermint leaf, spitting the other one out on the floor. She watches my hands as I slowly let them relax. "On another note, are you going to the Hideaway?"

I take a deep breath before answering. "Master Rhys said I didn't have to if I was still caring for Zilpah."

"Yeah," she nods, "but are you going to the Hideaway?" I breathe a laugh and shake my head. She nods and turns toward the woman, who I believe is resting her eyes.

"You really are good, Vulcan," she says as she walks away.

* * *

Swarley comes by hours later, when the night has fallen again and I have changed her bandages at least seven times. He chews on an apple, the juice flying from his mouth and hitting my cheek. I glare playfully at him and he simply smirks.

"Blue said she'd come by later. Master Rhys it taking her on a tour through the Northern passages." I nod and glance at Zilpah's sleeping form as she thrashes around. I turn away and clench my eyes shut.

"What happened in the arena?" I ask to get my mind off of things. Swarley shrugs and smiles mischievously.

"Nothing."

"Something must have happened." He shakes his head, the smile still glued to his face.

"Not every day could be as interesting as yesterday. I mean, the Careers didn't even leave their island. Something about resting up."

"But what about the others? Titania was injured and Nell narrowly escaped murder. And did Jersey finally kill someone. And how are Weft, Adeline, and Dmitri doing? I haven't seen much of them lately." He raises an eyebrow at me and leans against the wall.

"Admit you like the Games first." (I can't believe he is still trying with this. Years ago, he and Cal made a bet that he could get me to say that I actually liked the Hunger Games. There were plenty of times when he almost did, but never has he actually gotten the words out of me.)

"What? No," I say shaking my head.

"You know you want to," he says poking my side.

I narrow my eyes at him. "Cut it out Swarley and tell me."

"Not until you say it."

"If you don't tell me then Isolde will," I point out. I swear his broad smile got bigger.

"Isolde was stuck in the District Two room, so she doesn't know anything other than that the Careers this year are lazy." He could be lying. I wouldn't put it past him to do something like that. Or I could wait until tomorrow and fill in the blanks myself.

"Just tell me if someone died," I reason.

"Say it first." I roll my eyes at him and nibble on the hard piece of bread that Cal got me.

At that moment, Cal comes in, a bag draped over her shoulder. "Did you watch the Games?" I ask her.

"Yeah, I took over your shift," she replies as if I was asking her what two-plus-two was. She drops the bag in front of me and hands me more yarrow, bandages, and almonds. I take a handful of the nuts and toss a few in my mouth.

"What happened in the arena?"

"Don't tell him!" Swarley exclaims (and by exclaims, I mean jumps in front of me and ways his hands like a wild man). Calanthe jumps back and furrows her eyebrows at him.

"Why not…" She pauses midsign and smirks. "This is about the bet isn't it?"

Swarley's eyes jump out of his sockets. "No, what gave you that idea?"

"You do realize you already lost right. That was ages ago."

"I did not lose," he says with a straight face. "I just didn't win."

"That's the same thing," Cal tells him with a laugh.

"No it's not."

"Guys." Both stop their argument to look at me. "Can someone please just tell me what happened?" Cal sighs and looks at me with a blank expression.

"Nell and Alana died." What? No, Alana died. What are we going to tell Edgar?

"Seriously?" I say.

"No," she laughs. I narrow my eyes at her. "No one died today. Careers stayed on their island and the ten girl is living in the snow. She built herself an underground cave and everything." She pauses to toss a peppermint leaf in her mouth. "The District Three kid met up with Galena, but they didn't do anything since the Three was injured and Galena's shirt was caught on the tree. They had a nice stare down though." She takes a deep breath and taps her finger against her knee. "Let's see, Jersey was searching for Nell, Nell was searching for water, and water was searching for Dmitri."

"What?" I ask trying to rack my brain for what that could have meant.

"Well it wasn't searching for Dmitri. Actually, he got sick and was throwing up. When he went to wash off, he fainted and nearly drowned in the water. The girl found him in time and that stupid kid couldn't stop babbling about how he knew how to revive him, but didn't want to because then it would be weird." I can hear Weft's voice as he tells Adeline this while she tries to figure out how to help Dmitri and shut up her district partner.

"Did Nell find water?"

"Technically yes, but she just went back to the water next to the Cornucopia." She spits out the leaf in exchange for an almond. "Is that everyone? I have a feeling I'm forgetting someone."

"Tell him about the One kid," Swarley says, finally realizing that he wasn't going to get me to talk.

"Lycoris?" I ask.

"Yeah," Calanthe nods. She moves to begin telling me what happened, when Swarley cuts her off. "He wanted to hunt again, but Ares insisted on resting and they got in a fist fight."

"No, they didn't," Cal glares.

"Yeah they did!" he counters.

"Lycoris tackled him down but no punches were thrown." They glare at each other until Swarley finally looks away and Cal continues. "Alana split them up and Lycoris went hunting by himself."

"But he didn't catch anything," I say more to myself than anything.

"No, he tried to track down Three girl, but she covered her tracks very well."

I eat the rest of the almonds, catching a few in my mouth as Swarley throws them at me. Cal pulls out a loaf of bread that she took from the kitchen and splits it amongst us. I leave a little for Zilpah for when she wakes and we start to place bets on who will win the Games when Isolde comes in.

Her bright blues eyes find mine immediately, and I am alarmed when the spark that is normally there isn't. I raise an eyebrow at her and she smiles weakly.

"Can we talk alone for a little bit?"

**A.N. I don't really like this chapter all that much, but whatever. I know I didn't talk much about the tributes this chapter, but I like to think that Vulcan had something to do other than constantly chase after what is going on in the arena. If you don't like it tell me. I really just wanted to test out this idea.**

**I'm going on vacation this next week, so I won't have internet access. I'll make sure to try and update at my normal time, though.**

**Your feedback is very much appreciated and hoped for.**

*Finz*


	13. The Highlight of My Day

**A.N. So right about now you are thinking either: what the hell! She finally updated; or what is this story again? Well to whoever is still following this story, I apologize. Truth of the matter: I got bored. But I got a very random review the other day (two in fact) from someone asking me to continue this story so I took a second look at it and found my old notes and I decided to give it a second chance. _Life is But a Daydream_'s kind words also helped :)**

**For anyone who is still reading this and does not remember what the hell was going on here is a brief RECAP (and if you do remember everything then cheers to you and just skip all of the italics):**

_Vulcan (nicknamed Fire) is the narrator and Avox who is best friends with Swarley (the jokester) and Calanthe (Cal, the "perfect" Avox). He is being considered to be the next "master" of the group of Avoxes he lives with who cater to the railroads and the Mentors during Hunger Games season. Master Rhys (the current leader/master) wants him to prove himself by training the newest Avox, Isolde (Blue), who he has started to get a crush on. All the Peacekeepers hold some form of contempt for Vulcan because he killed one of their own although the full story as to why has yet to be revealed._

_There is a serial rapist group of Peacekeepers among the Avoxes who have attacked Beatrice (nicknamed Lovely) and a few other Avox girls. There has also been a rise in beatings. Vulcan (having been raised in an apothecary home) cares for these women, though is not concerned about it much. Cal has been looking for the people who did this with little success._

_**Meanwhile, in the Games: **_

_There is a power struggle for control in the Career alliance against Lycoris (D1) and Ares (D2). Lycoris is a big brute who killed his own ally in the Bloodbath as well as Avery (D4), who Peri (D7, Avery's ally) swore to kill. Ares is the technical leader even though Lycoris tries his hardest to take it from him._

_Dustyn (D10) has allied with the Careers and gives them information on the arena. That same day the Careers split up to go hunting: Dustyn and Alana (D2) go to the southern swamps to get the only other alliance with Weft and Adeline (D8s) and Dmitri (D11) while the rest Lycoris, Ares, Allyn (D1), and Leeum (D4) go to the northern mountains to get the remaining tributes there. While trying to hunt down Galena (D9), she throws a rock at them and kills Leeum. Meanwhile, Dustyn and Alana chase down Weft, but are attacked by an alligator mutt. They manage to kill it, but Dustyn's leg is in a really bad shape._

_That same day, there is an avalanche on the mountains and while most of the tributes escape, Peri and Otillie (D10) are caught in it. Otillie manages to escape, but when she sees Peri struggling, she doesn't help her and Peri ends up dying. _

_The Careers go back to the base (which is a little island), but not before Lycoris attacks Titania (D3) who narrowly escapes. When they see what bad shape Dustyn is in, they plan to kill him, but Dustyn claims that he knows where a tribute is that they would never find. He gets an extra few days to heal before showing them where this person is. _

_Later that night, Allyn tries to attack Ares before ditching the Careers. However, Alana wakes up and attacks her before she has a chance and Lycoris kills her. They care for their injuries the next day, despite what Lycoris wants._

_While that goes on, Jersey (D9) is keeping tabs on all of the tributes by stalking them and such. He is the only one other than Dustyn who knows that Nell (D6) is at the lake in the center of a thick forest. However, she runs because the water was poisoned by hallucinogens so she searched for a new source. Jersey now tries to hunt her down so he could kill her._

_Some other stuff: 12 tributes are still alive. Alana is the daughter to the Avox Edgar. Dmitri has a wife and kid back home. Galena has set up traps all along the mountain side. _

_In the last chapter, another girl was attacked (named Zilpah) by the Peacekeeper group. Vulcan was taking care of her in an old wine cellar. It ended with Isolde wanting to talk to Vulcan about something, and this was just after Swarley told her that Avox relationships are a really big mistake._

**Wow! That took a whole page practically. And now that that is out of the way and your memory is somewhat jogged, let us continue with **_**At Least I Can Whistle**_**.**

The Highlight of My Day

The Capitol likes to control their pests; which is what brings me to the top floor of the training center, hunting for a rat that I know for certain Cal let in. I don't mind; the last night has been anything but kind.

Isolde asked me the question that I hoped desperately that she wouldn't ask me: how did I become an Avox? I don't know why I didn't answer her. It would have been a lot easier that way. At least if I did that then she wouldn't be pissed at me. (I can only imagine what Cal is teaching her to say to me the next time I see her.)

I deserve her hatred right now, considering I snapped at her for bring up a simple question that I knew was coming. Nothing in the world justifies what I said to her after. If I could go back in time, I would take back those words, but I can't. In my anger, I asked her how she became an Avox. Everyone knows to never ask a noob what they did to get here. Never. There is no exceptions to this rule and it is probably the only rule that Cal willingly abides by. And yet, I broke it. She didn't tell me, but she did run away in tears. I couldn't even bring myself to run after her and apologize. I hid out in the cellar with Zilpah as a precaution.

Now I'm here, trying to avoid all of them for as long as possible, chasing a stupid rat that could be virtually anywhere. My only consolation right now is that I can watch the Hunger Games in peace.

It's early morning and the Career bunch have all started to get their things together. Dustyn begins to walk around, surprisingly enough. He clenches a small bottle of pain killers that was in the Cornucopia and is heavily limping, but at least he can move. By the looks of his leg, he seems to have stitched it together. It's an ugly wound to look at and I have seen ugly wounds.

Lycoris swings his ax in the air, eying Dustyn and Ares as he does so. I figure he is getting on his last nerves with Ares and I can only wonder how long it will take before he officially cracks. Alana leans against her spear and waits for the boys to get ready.

"Let's get this over with," she mutters.

"Yeah, I want to kill someone already," Lycoris agrees.

"Just wait one more moment for me to get bandages," Dustyn replies as he stuffs things in a plastic square to keep dry once he swims across. I don't know how he'll be able to do that.

"Why don't we kill you now and be done with it?" he replies, clenching his ax and stepping toward the District Ten boy. Dustyn visibly swallows and takes a weak step back. Ares is the one who steps between them with his sword unsheathed.

"That's enough. I said that he would be safe until he shows us where Nell is." Lycoris glares at the other boy, and even lifts his ax a little higher as if to try to attack him again. Alana straightens herself and grips her spear, preparing to throw it. It is then that Lycoris relaxes and decides to wait for them across the water.

I chuckle to myself as I check behind the couch again. What they don't know is that Nell is actually in the grass right next to their base. She has been hiding there for a little less than a day. I hope they don't kill Dustyn once they realize that he's wrong.

The next thirty minutes are relatively boring and consist of the others going across then Dustyn applying the bandages (which he does horribly).

During that time, the screen jumps to Otillie who created a base underneath the snow. She is out of her den for the time being and searches around for food at the base of the mountain. She pauses by where a berry bush is and inspects them. As she takes a step toward the bush, a rope wraps around her ankle and she flies into the air. The next thing she knows, she is hanging upside down by her ankle.

"It's about time someone fell for that." Galena jumps down from her tree and walks toward Otillie. On the way there, she picks up the knife that Otillie dropped and smiles.

For a second, it isn't Otillie that is caught, but my sister Nina. My eyes widen as I can almost see the fear run through her and how desperate she is to get away. If I could, I'd yell for her to run. I can't watch her die.

She doesn't go down easy. As Galena moves closer to her, Otillie grabs onto her arm and twists it as best as she could. The District Nine girl could not match the other's strength and the knife slips from her grip. Before it can fall on the floor, Otillie just barely grasps it and tries to cut at the rope.

Still determined to get her kill, Galena wraps her arms around the Ten girl and tries to get the knife from her again. But she cut the rope just enough for it to give way to the newfound weight and Otillie falls on top of Galena. Galena wiggles her way free and scampers up tree before Otillie can have a chance to stab her with the knife. Otillie runs in the other direction to avoid another trap from Galena. She ends up digging for roots instead.

It's there, staring at me from under the cupboard. The little grey mouse lifts its nose in the air and stands on its hind legs. I smirk at my success in finding the stupid animal. Now how am I supposed to catch it? I pull out the bait that Cal gave me which she claims that rodents are drawn to. She could be screwing with me and gave me something that sends them away, but I'll have to risk it.

I place it in the middle of the hallway and get my clear box ready. The rodent climbs off of the cupboard and toward the bait. When it gets to it, I drop the clear box on top of it. The stupid rat never saw it coming.

I sigh and slide the cardboard underneath so that it couldn't escape. It really sucks that this is probably going to be the highlight of my day. I'm pissed at Swarley for putting it in Isolde's head that we could never be together and who knows what Master Rhys said to get her to ask me how I became an Avox. Cal is the only one I somewhat like, but then again, she's the one who put the rat here in the first place. I hate them all right now.

I sit down on the couch and watch the rat. What am I supposed to do with it now?

"I told you he was lying!" My eyes jump to the television as the Career group realizes that Nell is not where Dustyn said she was.

"She was here," he says glancing around the area. "I saw her here."

"Well she's not here anymore," Lycoris growls with a sadistic grin on his face. He takes a step toward Dustyn and the Ten boy looks desperately at Ares and Alana. Ares can't meet his gaze and Alana almost looks regretful.

"She's still here somewhere. She has to be! I can find her again. I swear I can."

"We already gave you a chance to redeem yourself," Ares says softly. The Career leader glances at his district partner, almost begging her to say something in this boy's defense. She doesn't.

Lycoris takes in the remaining meters and swings his ax. The poor boy's head falls to the floor as his cannon fires. The hovercraft takes his body away quickly. The camera focuses in on the large grin Lycoris has on his face. I really wish I could kill that bastard myself.

I push over the box with the rat and let it out. As long as that thing is loose, I don't have to go back to the others. I really don't want to go back right now. Lying down on the floor, I try to close my eyes for a nap. I don't care if I get whipped for it.

Someone kicks my shoulder. I already know who it is as I open my eyes and spot her blond hair. Cal sits next to me cross-legged and with a smirk on her face.

"You're an idiot."

"I know," I reply with a roll of my eyes.

"She was crying all night you know." I feel as though she just punched me in the gut. Isolde was crying because of me. I look away before I can see what else Cal has to say.

"You should apologize," she tells me by leaning over so I could see what she is signing. I turn to glare at her.

"This is your fault you know. If you and Swarley never made that bet on how long me and Isolde will last then he never would have interfered."

"Please. Swarley interferes with everything." I lift myself off of the floor and fully face Cal. She leans against one of the chairs and inspects my face. After a while she says, "Besides, it's only a rough patch."

"A huge one."

Cal reaches over and smacks the back of my head. "Quit being pathetic and apologize." I glare at her then move my eyes to a spot on the floor.

"She's going to want to know."

"Then tell her."

I shake my head. "I can't."

"That's all I hear from you," she tells me through narrowed eyes. "I can't. I can't. You can, you just don't want to."

"Same thing."

"Forget it." She sighs. "You're too selfish to be in a relationship." I lift up my hands to respond, but she stands up and turns her back toward me. After she stretches and takes in the room, she faces me again. "I'm here to get the rat because I have taken your last four shifts in the Hideaway and I'm tired of it. So git." I can almost feel my stomach fall at the idea of going back to the Mentors' Hideaway where all of my friends will know what I have done.

I shake my head at her, but she grabs me by my arm and tries to drag me out of the room. Cal may be sneaky, but she isn't strong, at least she isn't strong enough to drag me away. She huffs and hits my back where the skin is still raw from the whipping before the Games. I wince visibly and she puts her hands on her hips. When I don't move, she lifts her hand to do it again, but I shoot up to my feet before she could follow through.

"A little longer," I tell her. She narrows her eyes at me. "Please."

She rolls her eyes as well as her head and walks away, throwing her hands out in front of her. Good. That means I have at least an hour before facing my doom.

My eyes travel back to the television as the camera watches Jersey. He stopped his search for Nell it seems as he is in the swamp now. His grip on the branch is strong and sure. It makes me a little uneasy. He's going to kill someone. Dmitri, Adeline, and Weft are going to be his prey. He can't be that dumb though. But then again, none of the three can actually fight. Maybe he isn't so dumb after all.

The boy walks among the thick swamp with his head up and eyes darting in every direction for movement. Suddenly he pauses and looks to his left. Adeline lies there and appears to be asleep. With a deep breath, he moves in for the kill.

**A.N. It's not as long as I had hopped when you take out the recap, but hey, it's an update. The next chapter WILL be up on Monday (and I say will because it's already written but I have no time to post it this weekend). Regardless of whether or not anyone is following this anymore, it will be posted. That is a little consolation I think, though not much.**

**Please review even if it is to say that you are still reading. I honestly just want to know who is still here.**

**A moment of silence for**  
Dustyn Levy

*Finz*


	14. Courage is Stupid

_**Previously,**_

_My eyes travel back to the television as the camera watches Jersey. He stopped his search for Nell it seems as he is in the swamp now. His grip on the branch is strong and sure. It makes me a little uneasy. He's going to kill someone. Dmitri, Adeline, and Weft are going to be his prey. He can't be that dumb though. But then again, none of the three can actually fight. Maybe he isn't so dumb after all._

_The boy walks among the thick swamp with his head up and eyes darting in every direction for movement. Suddenly he pauses and looks to his left. Adeline lies there and appears to be asleep. With a deep breath, he moves in for the kill._

Courage is Stupid

The camera moves from Jersey and to Dmitri, who crouched in the murky water when he saw Jersey. He watches the other boy as he stalks toward Adeline. I have no idea where Weft is, but I am glad he isn't there to start one of his talking fits. As he moves in for the kill, the boy lunges at Jersey, crying out in the process.

Adeline jolts awake from Dmitri's noise and gets to her feet once she sees Jersey with his stick. Jersey and Dmitri wrestle on the ground all the while, Dmitri yells, "Run! Find Weft and run!"

Adeline stumbles back and searches around for the younger boy. When she spies the unkept brown hair in the swamp, she glances back once more at Dmitri. He pushes Jersey away for a moment and goes to her side so he could shove her behind him.

"Don't worry about me. I'll hold him down. Remember what I taught you and go."

Jersey clenches his branch and glowers at the older boy. They all know who is going to win this fight. Adeline places a hand on Dmitri's shoulder and whispers, "Thank you," and then runs toward Weft, dragging him along as they disappear in the swamp.

"Cute," Jersey mutters as he takes in the distance between them.

"You don't have to do this," Dmitri says putting up a hand. "You can still walk away and everything can go back to normal."

"We're in the Hunger Games," is Jersey's simple reply.

He moves to stab Dmitri with his branch, but, the Eleven boy tries to force it out of his grip. They wrestle with the makeshift weapon for a little bit but then Jersey suddenly lets go, sending Dmitri off balance. He flies forward right as Jersey takes out his little hunting knife.

He falls right into the weapon.

Dmitri is sprawled on the floor clenching the knife that lodges itself in his gut. He coughs several times and tries to keep his eyes away from the blood that pulses out of the wound. He knows that he is going to die. Weakly, his hand crawls into his pocket to pull out the picture of his family. He holds it close to his face, admiring his loved ones one last time before he dies. Tears slip past his eyes easily.

Meanwhile, Jersey stands off to the side, not wanting to risk going for his knife and getting attacked by Dmitri again. He decides to wait until he dies, washing his hands in the murky water and inspecting his branch. He doesn't even care that he killed a little girl's father.

Eventually, his cannon fires and the hovercraft comes to pick up his body. Jersey snatches the knife from the corpse then walks back to the tall grass without a care in the world.

"Wow," Cal says beside me. I nod a little and stare at the floor. He died protecting his allies whom he only knew for a few days. And yet I'm too much of a coward to tell Isolde how I became an Avox.

"Looks like Lion lost his bet," she continues. "I told him not to bet on Dmitri, but he never listens." I smirk a little and sigh. He has to get us three blankets now.

"Who did you bet on?" I ask her. Cal never bets. Her reasons change every time I ask her, but whenever I want a good laugh I bother asking her.

"Why bet when beer and a drunk man can get you the same results?" I raise my eyebrow at her. It's not one of her best, but I'm willing to let it slide considering that she might be in shock. But can Cal even go into shock? She doesn't strike me as the type.

"Is that how you get all of your money?" The shadow of a smile graces her face as she relives some kind of memory.

"That and the Capitol citizens have really absurd coin purses." She plays with her fingers for a little bit then glances at the television.

"You should be taking my shift at the Hideaway," she reminds me.

"Yeah."

She narrows her eyes at me. "You aren't going there are you?"

I shake my head. "No."

I watch Cal to see how she will react. She doesn't even bother to scowl at me as she shrugs and begins to walk down the hallway. "Well, now that we've got that settled, I'm going to sleep," she tells me while walking backward.

"In the tributes' beds?" I can't help the widening of my eyes.

"All of District Twelve is gone anyway."

"The cameras." Her eyes travel up at where a camera must be. She tilts her head to the side then waves before looking back to me.

"Why would they be looking at a floor that is supposed to be vacant?"

I purse my lips to think of a decent excuse. "To make sure it still is."

She shoves that idea to the side as she stops in front of a tribute's door. "Capitol people are too lazy to do something like that."

"How would you know that?"

"I've been an Avox for seven years. If I didn't know how the Capitol ran things then my back would be as mauled as yours." My hand unconsciously goes to the raised scars on my back, lump growing in my throat as I remember how they got there. Cal may annoy the hell out of me, but I don't want her to get the same treatment.

"Are you really going to sleep?" I ask watching her hands as they play with the platinum doorknobs.

"Yeah and you should too if you have any brains."

"I think my brains are saving me."

"Come on. I've done this thousands of times and I've never been caught. Judging by the bags under your eyes, you could use the rest." Cal has never been caught because she knows how the Capitol runs better than the Capitol does. If I ever tried to do what she did, I would be dead already.

Shaking my head, I shut off the television and begin to walk to the service stairs that the Avoxes have to use. Cal can catch the stupid rat herself.

I glance over my shoulder one last time as Cal sinks into the bedroom. "Night night, Vulcan." The door closes silently and I begin my trek down the staircase.

* * *

"What are we going to do now? With Dmitri gone how will we survive? Oh no, we're going to die aren't we. Well we are in the Hunger Games so dying is a good possibility and stuff, but I guess with Dmitri with us, it didn't seem possible you know? I hope I get to see my brothers again and Loom and Weave. I wonder if they're watching me right now. Hey guys if you are…"

Adeline tries her hardest to keep herself together as her district partner, Weft, runs his mouth like a broken faucet. She clings to a little rabbit animal that seemed to have been through hell even before it came to the Games. The fist with the rabbit rests by her heart as she leads them past the swamp and toward the grasslands.

"Maybe we should stop here," she says softly. Weft, surprisingly, stops talking and inspects their surroundings. He is nearly hidden within the tall grass and has to stand on his toes to fully take in everything. His fingers fidget with the string necklace around his neck, stopping only momentarily to scratch at his large ears or tiny pug nose.

"If you think this is good, then we can stop. I don't know much about anything like this. Dmitri knew what to do. If only he was still here. He would know where it was safe. Oh no! How are we going to eat, Adeline? I don't know how to find mood or anything. Did I say mood? I meant—"

"I know what you meant," Adeline replies, her voice hardly above a whisper. I noticed that she squeezed the rabbit a little tighter when Weft started to talk about Dmitri.

"Well then what are—"

"He taught me how to find food. I can do that. Can you go get water from the Cornucopia?"

"The Cornucopia? Sure I guess. I can sneak in and out pretty quickly I think. You know one time when Loom and I, oh wait, I think it was Weave or was it my brother? You know I don't—"

Adeline places a hand on the boy's shoulder. In the dull glow of the sun, she looks more sickly than normal. Her grief for her fallen comrade probably doesn't help matters much. Weft meets her watery blue eyes in silence. "Please be careful."

He smiles at her, his ears sticking out more than I thought possible. "Don't worry. I've outrun them once and I'm sure I can do it again." He begins to run off into the grass, when he stops and turns back toward her. "I miss him too Adeline, but I think he knew what he was doing when he allied with us."

She nods at him a little and watches as his body disappears in the grass. Holding the rabbit to her heart, she walks toward where Dmitri taught her how to find food and allows the first of her tears to run down her cheeks.

Her mentors, Gianni and Acryl, hardly pay any attention to their tributes as they lean back in their chairs and eat their bowls of soup. Beside me is Grape and Eli, both drained from the noises Isolde was making the night before and ignoring me for being the cause.

I keep my eyes on the screen, trying to ignore everyone else in the room. I almost didn't even go there. In fact, I wouldn't have been there at all if it wasn't for Edgar who started asking about how his daughter was doing. The only way I could get out of that conversation was by saying I needed to get to the Hideaway.

Then I met Master Rhys on my way here.

* * *

"_Vulcan. I have some bad news."_

"_Does it have to do with whatever you told Isolde yesterday," I snapped bitterly at him. He raised his eyebrows at me, but did not respond otherwise._

"_I got word from a Peacekeeper that two more attacks happened. I brought them to the cellar with the other girl you treated." I didn't know why this boiled my blood. I guess I was angry at he assumed I would help her instead of asking if I could._

"_And you want me to treat them?" I sign through narrowed eyes._

_Master Rhys tilted his head to the side. "That would be very helpful, yes."_

"_I need to cover Cal's shift."_

"_That's fine." He nodded. "You can check on them after. I was going to head over there myself to see if I can calm them down a little." He inspected me for a moment and began to turn away to head toward the cellar that they were keeping the girls. I grabbed his arm and turned him back toward me with more force than I anticipated._

"_What did you tell Blue last night?"_

_A humorless smile graced his face, as if he knew that was what made me so angry. "We talked, like what I do with all new Avoxes."_

"_But what did you say?"_

_His face went blank. "You know that I will not disclose that."_

"_Something you said set off Isolde to ask about how I became an Avox and I want to know what."_

"_Do you really think I would do something like that?" I couldn't meet his eyes as I looked to the floor. He placed a hand on my shoulder and kept it there until I met his gaze. "I know it may be hard to believe Vulcan, but I want you two to be happy. That's what I told her. Maybe she realized that she couldn't be happy when you were hiding something from her." The possibility of him being right only made my guilt worse and I clenched my stomach to try to keep it in place. He patted me lightly on the back. "If it helps, I don't think she should have asked you about it."_

_I swallowed heavily and nodded. "Thank you for telling me."_

_I turned to leave, but his rough hand caught onto my arm. I glanced back at him. "Sometimes masters have to do things for the sake of others. You took Beatrice's whipping in the beginning of the Games because she couldn't handle it. You take care of injured Avoxes because there is no one else to do it."_

"_What are you trying to say?"_

"_Even though she shouldn't have asked you, you should have told her, for her sake. I have been asked how I became an Avox by several new Avoxes, simply so that they know that they are not alone. It is a form of connection that we build, a new understanding if you will. It is like asking someone what district they are from."_

_I shook my head. "It's not the same."_

"_It is if you let it be. What you did to get here shouldn't be something you are ashamed of, especially in your case. If you can see it as the past then others can do it too." I didn't know how to respond to him as he nodded at me and began to take a few steps back._

"_Don't forget about the girls, Vulcan," he said before turning around and walking toward the cellar._

* * *

I know that Master Rhys is right (he's _always_ right). A part of me wishes that he was wrong just so I don't have to do what I know I have to do. I mentally kick myself. I'm being a coward and my sisters would beat me up for it if they were here.

A yelp interrupts my train of thought and everyone in the room looks to the televisions. My eyes first go to Adeline who is safe somewhere on the outskirts of the swamp. My gaze then turns to Weft. He dropped the plastic bowl they made on the banks of the water and hid in the tall grass. The camera pans out a little as it catches sight of a tribute on the island.

"Oh shit, kid. Get out of there," Acryl says as she leans forward in her chair.

I feel myself relax a little when I notice the tight brown braid that could not belong to any of the Careers. Then I can make out the familiar face of Titania from District Three. I have been wondering what happened to her since her injury from Lycoris.

She walks around the Career camp as if she owned the place, looking through different bins and boxes for the things she needed. She pulls out what looks to be a tube of ointment and begins to apply it on her wound. Her face visibly relaxes at the soothing sensation.

I expect her to swim back across the lake now that she has what she wants, but instead, she continues to look through the supplies, only occasionally looking over her shoulder to see if the Careers are returning. I have no idea what she is trying to do since the objects she begins to pull out don't appear to be food or water.

Her figure disappears in the corner of the screen and we are left to Weft's fearful face as his fingers play with the weave necklace. His eyes are glued to the figure as he slowly (or as slow as he could go) goes to his plastic bowl. It is only half full, if even, but Weft doesn't bother trying to continue filling it. He run off immediately after. The last glimpse we get of Titania is one of her setting up some kind of trap.

I've got to hand it to her; that is pretty smart. The Careers will never see it coming, especially if she covers up her tracks afterward. I smirk at what Lycoris's face will look like when he runs into one of her traps on accident.

"Can we get water?" Eli and Grape both look at me. I glare at them then slide out of the room. I know I deserve it, but they don't have to be such jerks about it.

As I leave the room, I get a glimpse of what exactly Titania had set up on the Career island. She has several small snares hidden within the black area from when it was burned by Freya at the Bloodbath. She also placed what looks like a jar of tracker jackers inside of one of the food bins. When they open that sucker up and run into one of her traps, they'll be screwed.

She finally swims across the lake after cleaning up all remnants of herself. With a bag of food, water, and the ointment, she goes back to her trees where she can be safe when the havoc from her traps begin.

**A.N. The tracker jacker trap is a nod to the tribute I made for the 24 authors collaboration **_Tears of Blood_** who used tracker jackers as her form of weapon. I hadn't intended to put it here, but I couldn't help myself when the opportunity presented itself :)**

**I'm sorry this is a little later than anticipated. I thought today was Sunday... Yeah, well technically in my time zone it is still Monday, so I guess it counts a little. **

**(Just a little side note Eli and Grape aren't really important Avoxes. I mentioned them in the beginning of the story a little and that's about it, so feel free to forget about them.)**

**A moment of silence for**  
Dmitri Pryor

*Finz*


	15. Gamemakers

Gamemakers

Silence greets me in the corridor. Quietness has never been unique since becoming an Avox, but there are several degrees to it that makes it a little more bearable. This silence has no background noise of any kind and it seems as though the entire building is on mute. Never in my life have I encounter this type of quiet and it eats at me.

Master Rhys leads me through the hall, our footsteps making no noise against the carpet. At my rear is Master Percy, who is considered the master to the masters. With the rise of attacks recently, he asked Master Rhys and me to assist him for the day. If I had realized what I was signing myself up for, I would have refused.

With a tray of pills in each of our hands, we push open the door and I walk into the Gamemakers' Room. It has been refurbished several times in the last forty plus years, but they finally settled for an eerily white room with the map of the arena in the very middle and the Gamemakers sitting around it, working on their assorted projects. The Head Gamemaker stands on a level platform inspecting the tributes and her fellow Gamemakers to make sure they aren't doing anything wrong.

Masters Percy and Rhys immediately hand out the pills to everyone and I lift my jaw off of the floor long enough to follow suit. The pills are supposed to be able to keep them awake and vigilant for a full two days without any sleep. None of the Gamemakers even notice what we're doing as we take the empty cups and replace it with new ones. It's better that way because Gamemakers have a reputation for sending the Avoxes that displease them to the laboratory to test out the new traps for the tributes.

The Head Gamemaker is the only one who appears to notice us, or at least Master Rhys. Master Rhys once told me that he had grown up with her and her sister. To this day I have yet to hear him actually call her the Head Gamemaker; he always calls her Avonlea. She meets Master Rhys's eyes for a moment, nods, and then turns to the Gamemaker I happen to stand next to.

"How's the muttations coming, Pierce?" she asks.

"They're all set boss. The monster in the mountains should be stable within the next hour and the water dragon is already in place," Pierce says with a heavy lisp. I glance at him for a moment and realize that his tongue is either swollen or made to look bigger. It must be a new style.

"Did the Big Three make it back to the island?" It takes me a while to realize that by the Big Three she means the remaining Careers.

"They're on their way back," a girl in the corner replies.

"What took them so long?"

"Detour to look for tributes," another Gamemaker tells her.

"And the girl from six? She's by the shore."

"Yup."

"Are the Eights still close by?"

"The girl keeps moving them forward and the boy from Nine is following them."

The Head Gamemaker nods several times and moves from her podium to stand beside a short man with a wild mustache. "How's our mountain looking?"

"The girl from Ten is the highest up, but the girls from Three and Nine are in the forest still. They somehow manage to keep evading each other." She purses her lips and taps her finger against her leg.

"Show me the footage we have for the mountain top." As the mustache man hurries to do what he was asked, Master Percy and I finish off handing out the pills and begin to clean up whatever residue that stains the white room. Master Rhys is surprisingly taking his time, and I see his eyes travel to the Head Gamemaker constantly. It seems very rash of him and I never knew that he could do something so reckless, especially to her.

The pale white snow tops appears on the wall behind me, making me jump and nearly knock over the bucket of water. Master Percy catches me just before and sets me straight. I nod my thanks and continue my work while glancing at the screen. It appears to be clear of all life, but then I see the large white mass hidden among the snow. As I stare at the unintentional optical illusion, I realize how tall and frightening it really is. I wouldn't want to be a tribute when that thing is activated.

"Good," the Head says, flicking her hand so that mustache man can get rid of the footage. "The minute the yeti is ready, you send him out. With any luck, it might scare the three girls to meet up."

"What about the water monster?" Pierce asks from across the room. She visibly narrows her eyes at the man and tilts her chin up.

"I'll tell you when to set it loose, and if you let it go a second before, I swear you will wish you were the tributes." Pierce shrinks under her glare and begins to become preoccupied with his work. With a satisfied smirk, the Head Gamemaker turns to an elderly woman who doesn't appear to be doing any arena surveillance like the others.

"What is the crowd prognosis?"

"The excitement from when Dmitri died is turning into interest to see what the Big Three will do when they meet with the tracker jackers."

She beams at the news, but then clears her face of emotion to ask her next question. "Disinterest?"

"It went down eight percent in the Capitol."

"And the Districts?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Went up fifteen."

"No doubt because District Eleven stopped watching," she mumbles, walking away. "It doesn't matter anyway. President Snow is more interested with the Capitol interest."

"Lee?" The Head Gamemaker rolls her eyes at the lisped voice and turns to face the man in charge of the mutts. He swallows heavily and stammers to try to get out what he wants to say. "D-don't you think we should, uh, release the monster now so that the, um, Big Three won't be able to get to the island. I, um, I mean—"

"You worry about your little creations, Pierce, and I'll worry about the big kid stuff," she snaps, turning away from him.

"I think he had a point," mustache man says. "Cutting them from their supplies will be perfect."

"It's also cliché," she argues, her fists clenching at her sides. "Besides the real battle with the Big Three are with Ares and Lycoris. If we keep them stranded there then the battle will be one worth waiting for." She makes her way back to her podium and stands on top so she can get a good look at every one of the Gamemakers. "There are better ways to make someone suffer than cutting off their supplies. Would you rather be stuck in a room with your worst enemy or go a little hungry for a day?" None of the Gamemakers reply. "My point exactly. Now show me the live feed, Lysander. I want to see how this plays out."

Mustache man presents the live feed on the wall as Master Rhys finally joins Master Percy and me. He smiles a little but otherwise does not acknowledge my questioning glances. We almost finish our work, but I try to go slower so I can see what happens. Master Percy nudges me to go quicken my pace, but I refuse to.

Lycoris, Ares, and Alana swim across the lake in silence. Lycoris's high from killing Dustyn earlier is long gone as he goes back to glowering at Ares's back and having murderous thoughts toward him (at least I'm pretty sure he has murderous thoughts toward him; the guy is as crazy as one can get). Alana appears to be displaying true guilt for not defending Dustyn and her eyes constantly fly to the ax in Lycoris's hand. Tensions are already high between the three and I can't help noticing that the Head Gamemaker is right about them.

Without a single word to each other, they all go their separate ways. Ares begins his first watch, Lycoris sharpens his weapon again, and Alana goes to the food bins. The Gamemakers straighten a little and from the corner of my eye, I can see the smile on the Head Gamemaker's face.

It happens quickly. The minute, she lifts up the lid to the box, the poisonous insects that Titania planted fly out, attacking every living thing around them, which, unfortunately, is Alana. She shrieks at the top of her lungs and runs as fast as she can toward the lake. Lycoris quickly follows, throwing his arms around to swat away the tracker jackers that begin to attack him as well. At the sound of his allies' peril, Ares rushes to the lake.

"Now, Pierce."

Just as all three make it to the water, a large blue monster appears from the water's depths and flashes its sharp white teeth at its new prey. Alana hardly pays it any attention as she dives for the water to try to get the tracker jackers away. Ares and Lycoris wade into the shore, but are very reluctant to go any further, even with the tracker jackers flying around them.

The dragon's arms and tail fly around in a fury, knocking Ares off of his feet and sending Lycoris deep into the water. In the tall grass, Nell frantically tries to get away, but the monster grabs her with his tail and whips her around while her shrill screams cut into the evening air.

Alana tries to swim back to the island, but the tracker jacker venom obviously has had its effect of her as she is having problems keeping her head above the water. Her hands reach into the air to try to grab something and she sinks immediately. Ironically, Lycoris saves her by pushing her out of the way so he can try to take down the monster with his bare hands (I would like to attribute his stupid move to the venom, but I can't be too sure). He lunges toward the dragon, but misses and face plants into the water.

Just as Lycoris begin to lunge, the monster's long arm moves to grab him midair. As he reaches into the air, he narrowly misses the sharp claws. Instead of fishing for him, the dragon scoops up Alana as she stared to float. It grips her like a rag doll, thrashing her around the same way he does to the shrieking Nell.

Ares, at the sight of his struggling ally, picks up his sword and tries to go to the dragon. However, his venom induced haze as well as his shitty swimming skills, don't get him anywhere near the monster. Lycoris gets up to give it another try, but by that time the creature begins to descend into the water.

Seconds later, the monster and both girls are underwater.

"Stop." All eyes jump to the Head Gamemaker.

"What?" Pierce stammers out. "Lee this is perfect! This is what—"

"We can't let it kill Alana! Not yet. Turn off its kill mode now."

"But, Lee…"

"Now!"

He moves his stubby fingers as quickly as possible as he shuts off the dragon's instinct to kill the two girls. The effect is immediate. The minute he turns it off, the girls' bodies go flying, Nell's toward the grassland and Alana's toward the island.

The camera follows Nell as she lands on her back, forcing air into her lungs. She coughs and heaves up water for what seems like eternity before trying her best to crawl away. Her left arm is out of its socket and blood seeps through her clothes from her chest area.

Meanwhile, Ares and Lycoris stumble back to their island, pleased that the hum of the tracker jackers is basically gone. Alana's eyes are shut and her chest doesn't appear to be moving. Lycoris crawls to his sleeping bag and tries to go to sleep, but Ares goes to his district partner.

"Come on Alana," he mumbles. "Wake up." His fist slams onto her chest a few times then blows air into her mouth. When it doesn't work, he tries again and again. She doesn't move.

My heart begins to sink at the thought of having to tell Edgar about the horrible way his daughter died, when she abruptly takes a breath and begins to scream. Ares stumbles back and blinks a couple of times, probably seeing something from the tracker jacker venom.

"Leave them alone!" she cries out. "Don't touch them!" Then her eyes roll back and she knocks out.

"And that, fellows, is why I wanted her to live," the Head Gamemaker announces.

* * *

"Next time, Fire, do not stare," Master Percy reprimands as we make our way back to our train tracks.

"I couldn't help it. I have never seen it before." Even as I think on the Gamemakers' Room now, I can't help admire the grandness of such a place, even if the white hurt my eyes after a while.

"You should get used to it, buddy, because all masters work there." My eyes get a little wider at the prospect of spending every Hunger Games in that room. It is beautiful and all, but there is no sunlight there.

"Not all the master work there," Master Rhys clears up. "Plenty of them have never even set foot in there. The master before me wouldn't even consider catering to the Gamemakers."

"Why do you?" It's a stupid question for me to ask, I know that, but I want to know. There is little anyone knows about Master Rhys other than he is an artist and Capitol Avox. I'm surprised when he blushes scarlet and smiles a little.

"The fool found a girl," Master Percy tells me. I gape at Master Rhys.

"The Head Gamemaker?"

"No!" he snaps instantly. "No, she's not a Gamemaker anymore. She's not even in the Capitol anymore."

"She was a Gamemaker." This is too much. How can an Avox ever consider falling for a normal girl let alone a Gamemaker? If I ever questioned Master Rhys's fearlessness before, I will never do it again.

"I heard a rumor that she was supposed to take the Head Gamemaker spot," Master Percy mentions, "but Lee forced her to turn it down."

Master Rhys turns to glare at his friend. "Avonlea would never do that." The two's eyes meet for a moment and I can't stand to meet their gaze. There is always a distinct different between a Capitol Avox and a District Avox that never seems to go away. With Master Rhys, it is easy to pretend that he is simply an Avox, but he is still a Capitolite deep down somewhere.

When their eyes tear apart, Master Percy grabs my attention and continues. "The girl left after the Thirty-Seventh Games and he hasn't heard from her since."

I suddenly remember seeing a girl at the Thirty-Seventh Hunger Games. That was when I first started working for Master Rhys and the fact that she asked for him by name (and even asked for my name) startled me. I had always assumed that she was once one of his friends. "Is she the one that I met in the Training Center that year, who gave me the book?" I ask.

"Her name is Ariadne." And for Master Rhys that settles the conversation. He glares at Master Percy, daring him to say another word about this girl who obviously meant a great deal to him. Or maybe he is angry that she left him behind to rot in the Capitol. It is difficult to tell.

We continue on in forced silence until my curiosity is too high for me to take. "Why was the Head Gamemaker staring at you?" Master Rhys smiles again with a fondness that he normally gives his Avoxes after a successful day.

"She's always kept an eye on me, even when we were kids. I don't understand why she still does. I suspect that she feels guilty for letting this happen to me so she makes sure that I am at least free of harm." It's a silly thing to do, we all know it. Once you're an Avox, you live in harm.

"You speak of her as if she has a heart," Master Percy signs with a scorn on his face. "Did you see what she did? She is forcing that District Two girl to suffer through the tortures of tracker jacker venom." Master Percy is from District Eleven and it has long been rumored that he used to have to knock down the tracker jacker nests in his district. It's said that he purposely pissed off the Peacekeepers so that he wouldn't have to do his job anymore. I can understand why it would be a sore subject for him, but Master Rhys glares at him.

"Avonlea is a good person, Percy, and don't you ever say otherwise."

Master Percy lifts up his chin. "I still say—"

A distorted scream echoes off of the walls of the shit hole, freezing the three of us in place. The silence that follows seems long and stagnant, but eventually another cry comes to us. It only could have come from an Avox.

I'm the first to burst into action. My legs pump and I run as fast as I can to where the screams may have come from. When I come to a fork, I try to remember where the sound leaned toward. Unable to recall the memory, I go right. The sound of Masters Percy and Rhys's boots echo behind me as I search frantically for the person being attach.

When another scream comes, I halt instantly. It comes from behind me. I slam my palm to my forehead as I realize that I went the wrong way. Spinning on my heel, I sprint back the way I came, jumping and dodging any pods I happen to come across. My heart pounds against my chest at the thought of Isolde or Cal being attacked. If it is them then my mistake could cost them their lives.

I speed past Masters Rhys and Percy as we weave our way through the tunnels. By the looks on their faces, they're just as scared as I am.

I turn one of the bends just as the group of Peacekeepers tosses a girl to the side. Whatever energy that is left over takes over me as I try to at least get a glimpse of them before they leave. However, as I pass the girl and see how badly she is beaten, I know I can't leave her behind. I halt, glance back at where the Peacekeepers ran then kneel at her side.

I recognize her instantly. She is one of Master Percy's girls and she worked with me in the Transfer for a little bit before I went with Master Rhys. She recognizes me almost immediately and sobs against my legs. I smooth back her tangled blond hair to try to calm her down as Masters Percy and Rhys catch up with us.

At the sight of his girl on the floor, Master Percy nearly burst into tears. Everyone knows that Master Percy cares for his Avoxes as if they were his own children and he even teaches them the alphabet. I'm sure that this is simply breaking his heart. When she catches sight of him, she jumps into his arms.

As horrible as it is, I am glad it was her and not Isolde. If it was, I don't know what I would do. The guilt I have been carrying around got heavier.

Master Rhys places a hand on my shoulder and I jump at the sudden contact. "Fire?" I swallow and get the courage to look at him. "We're going to bring her to the train tracks. It's closer."

I nod and watch him and Master Percy gently inform the girl that we were bringing her to the tracks so I can take care of her. As they begin to walk back to our home, I linger behind to take in the unfortunate scene. I think it is about time we stop these guys, no matter the consequences.

**A.N. I literally had 90% of this done a week ago and then I started work (which sucks) and college (which somewhat sucks) and my life has been a complete mess this past week so I just got around to finishing this.**

**My original plan was to finish this before November because I'll be participating in the NaNoWriMo that month and I'll have no time for anything else, but since there are approximately seven chapters left, I don't think that's going to happen. So I'll probably write as much as possible in September, maybe make an update in November and then continue on. **

**Your reviews have all been lovely and I love each and every one of you for reading.**

*Finz*


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